


Homing Instinct

by Ashilaa_A03



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: AU, Culture and religion are important in this, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Not Canon Compliant, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Undisclosed relationships - Freeform, not an imprint story, questioning imprinting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 60,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27079069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashilaa_A03/pseuds/Ashilaa_A03
Summary: The first time she saw him was less than stellar. It was the last tin of that amazing green, and the behemoth man had snatched it and walked to the till so quickly that she could only watch helplessly as he paid and left. Where was the justice in that?The first time Sam scented her he’d been laying on the ground, twigs and leaves beneath his pelt and the sea breeze blowing his way. He was surrounded by all the sounds that made up the forest, and the voices of his pack working their way in and out of each other’s heads. From where he was he could still see their silhouetted figures dancing throughout the house, making it their own. Her, instinct cooed so quietly he was able to ignore it as a passing interest.There, as the sounds of the forest cocooned him and the sound of the waves soothed him, he should have listened harder.
Relationships: Sam Uley/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 56





	1. To run with the wolf

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this is a brand new story that has been rolling around in my head for about a year now. A little bit of a warning: it's not a typical Sam/OC story, in that the MC's religion plays a part in this one. 
> 
> I've been a part of the Twilight fandom for a while and in all my years here, I very rarely see an OC who is not white or not Quileute, and I wanted to try something new and see myself represented a bit more.
> 
> It may not be everyone's cup of tea and I respect that. But I hope you give it a chance. If you don't like it though, I kindly ask you to keep any flames to yourself. Constructive criticism, yes. But this is not the place for flames. 
> 
> Diehard fans, the pack and the timeline have been altered to fit my narrative so bear that in mind. It is not canon compliant. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy the first chapter.

* * *

**ONE**

**To run with the wolf  
**

* * *

The first time Sam scented her he’d been laying on the ground, twigs and leaves beneath his pelt and the November sea breeze blowing his way. He was surrounded by all the sounds that made up the forest, and the voices of his pack working their way in and out of each other’s heads.

They were all there - Paul, Jared, Jacob, the twins, and Embry – and Sam wasn’t sure he would ever get used to the way their mind link worked but he listened to the thoughts all the same.

It had taken some time to get used to how thoughts slid over each other. Sometimes they would cut each other off only for a new train of thought to latch onto the previous one. It was one of the more challenging things the Pack had found difficult to adjust to in the first few months of phasing, other than the temper.

Not only did they have to deal with such a big invasion of privacy, but the thoughts would sound slightly off; like hearing your voice recorded. Difficult to hear for a moment until you recognized who was speaking.

Sam couldn’t remember why they were all phased. Some odd mix of luck, patrols and their need to stretch out of their skins. He supposed that the faint lingering stench of Leech, made all the stronger by memory, drove the newer ones to be on guard. But however it happened, they were all there to hear the disruption.

The rumble of a truck over cracked pebbled ground made his ears twitch and Sam’s head turned almost involuntarily towards its direction. For a moment, he wondered what was happening; no-one had come up this road since Old Man Jimmy had packed up and moved to the Makah Reservation a few months back to live with his granddaughter.

Almost immediately, Paul reminded him with a snarl to his thoughts.

Paul thought it was obvious that there was a family moving onto Quileute land that didn’t belong there. He was sure they had no right. But Jared was sure that they wouldn’t try anything because they had gone through the proper channels. Paul didn’t understand why Billy had let them in in the first place. Jacob reminded him that the family had agreed to everything and they’d seemed happy to just have a place to stay.

Sam listened to the voices of his pack and the underlying fear running through them. It was harder to hide an emotion when it was in your mind.

Jared thought there was nothing any of them could do about it. If Old Atera hadn’t pitched a fit then he figured they weren’t Hoquaht. Quil figured that was something, at least.

Sam’s main concern was about keeping their secret. It was one thing to hide it from friends and family who had the underlying knowledge of their legends to fall back on. But outsiders? They could bring trouble.

 _Be careful_. The command rumbled through their minds and settled in their bones.

Paul argued they were always careful. Quil thought they weren’t always careful. There was that time when Paul - Paul thought that incident was irrelevant and anyway, what if something happened?

Sam didn’t comment. Instead, he lifted himself onto all fours and padded towards the house. The truck had parked up, and three people stepped out of it - a man and two girls. The wind shifted and he scented them; each one was unique as scents were, but had the collective smell of family.

Comforting enough for them, he was sure, but to him, there was something simultaneously intrusive and exclusive about it. The first exited the truck - a young girl with a scarf covering her hair. Forks was a small town, La Push smaller still, so the arrival of a new religion wasn’t something they had experienced in their lifetimes. It piqued the pack's interest for a moment, but only a moment. If he didn’t have as good of eyesight as he did Sam would have thought that the girl was Quileute, if only for her skin color. It was the same russet as theirs. But she obviously wasn't as the man that stepped out was black.

Colin was taken aback that they really weren’t Hoquaht then. He’d wondered. Brady figured it would make things easier to swallow. Paul didn’t think it would by much. Embry conceded to Paul but reminded them all that at least Shipoquaht were more respectful.

Paul chuckled and the sound came out in a distorted growl through his wolf-teeth. Hoquaht definitely weren’t respectful, though they sure pretended to be.

The third one exited the truck. Her back was turned but her hair was curly - very curly - and placed high on top of her head. The curls were blowing in the salty wind. She looked at the house and then turned to the younger girl and gave her a smile. This time, when the wind blew, the scent wasn’t unpleasant. It actually made him want to curl up into a ball and lay beside her. Want, his instinct yawned lazily.

The pack mind lulled, unnoticed to all but Sam’s Second and Third.

Paul wanted to know what they were going to do about the outsiders. Colin wondered if they should ignore them. Sam very firmly told them all they would be made welcome as a courtesy to Jimmy. He needed the rent. Jared agreed and who were they to refuse a man comfort in his old age?

There was a grumble of resistant understanding. Money wasn’t as easy to come by as it had once been.

Sam agreed. It wasn’t easy. And maybe if Colin and Brady spent less time concerning themselves with the affairs of others, they would be able to study so they had a chance of making their own money once all of this was over.

The message was received loud and clear. The two young ones phased, sliding out of the pack mind, leaving behind more quiet than Sam had been used to since training them.  
Sam thought Paul should help them with homework. Paul wondered if he really had to. Did Paul not want the evening off, then?

There was a moment before everything Paul had to do flashed through his mind. Maybe he could see his mom at the hospital tonight. He could if he managed to get the pups to finish their work soon. Gratitude was the last emotion Sam felt before Paul, too, slid out. It left Jared and Jacob behind and Sam was in the mood for some quiet.

Jared wasn’t sure Sam would want to run patrols by himself. Sam knew there was only half an hour left. Jacob would let Sam do them if he insisted, then. Jared happily wondered who they were to deny their Alpha?

Soon it was only Sam in his mind. There was a tiny tremor of anxiety as he recalled the first time he phased but he pushed it to the side. He wasn’t alone anymore. His pack was only a howl away.

He wanted some time to himself anyway; the last few months had been something of a challenge to deal with - if he were going to be polite about it. With the Cullen’s gone it should have been time for celebration, or at least a break. But he seemed to continuously have to babysit Bella Swan and Jacob, making sure the boy didn’t say anything he shouldn’t.

Comatose as she was, it would be a bad idea for the Swan girl to learn about the Wolves. She had been sleeping with the enemy. They didn’t need any more advantages if the Cullens ever decided to come back.

But Jacob could whine. God could he whine.

So the momentary relief was nice, even if the silence wasn’t.

From his spot on the cliff, Sam could hear the newcomers’ voices clearly enough. Accents cut sharply through the breeze - British. They were far away from home. He watched as they made an assembly line, carrying the boxes inside one by one.

A surprising number of boxes came out of the back of the truck. Sam hadn’t counted explicitly but he got a sense that at least a half-hour had passed as they tried to empty the back, and it seemed like they still weren’t done.

There was a scuffle and a yelp. The older girl had shoved the younger one. Sam couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or not but from their body language – and the fact that the younger one was smirking – it seemed like they were joking around with each other.

The younger one almost retaliated, except the man called them both inside. The youngest went almost straight away but the older one stayed for a moment. She looked out over the cliffs and then looked at her feet. If Sam could guess, he would say she was sighing. But soon she collected one more box from the truck and closed it. The clang echoed.

He sat there waiting for an hour, wondering if any of the three would come back outside. Eventually, he got bored of sitting there and decided to move closer. It was possible that he would need to know their scents at some point, and even if he didn’t, Paul had an odd need to make note of all the scents on the Reservation.

Sam supposed it was better to be cautious than apathetic.

He made his way down the steep terrain from the cliffs to the wooded area that surrounded the house trying to get a clearer smell, but the breeze had blown it all away a long time ago.

Just as he was about to get closer to the truck, the front door opened with a creaky squeak that carried over the sound of the waves. Sam’s claws came out, scratching at the surface of the ground in annoyance. The noise had always been grating for him, but his enhanced senses made it harder to manage.

Someone came out of the house. It was the girl with curly hair. She was holding onto her arms and all but shaking in the cold as the wind hit her from multiple angles. But she walked, determined, to the truck with keys in her hand. They jingled slightly as she moved and the sound got louder when she lifted one arm to unlock the truck.

She got into the back and seemed to be rummaging around looking for...something.  
Sam found himself incredibly interested in what she had braved the winds of Washington for. Not many were willing to do that even when they were fully clothed. Somehow, his paws moved forward without him realising it. And somehow, he stepped on a twig and it cracked. And somehow, even from inside her truck, the girl with the curly hair heard the twig snap.

She yelped and her head shot out of the body of the truck.

Sam retreated far enough into the line of trees that she wouldn’t be able to see him, but he could still see her.

“Is anyone there?” she called out just loud enough to hear. She was looking around with wide eyes. The white of them was slightly illuminated by the glow of the interior lights but he didn’t need that to see.

She seemed scared. She was looking around for a good few minutes and Sam didn’t blame her. He really shouldn’t have been there. Hadn't he just said to the Pack that they needed to be careful?

Eventually, she went back into the car and picked up what seemed to be a cloth bag.  
The girl got it and slammed the door shut, probably harder than necessary. Sam approved of the action; it was a smart one to take. If it was an animal they wouldn’t try to come closer, and it was potentially loud enough that her family could hear if it wasn’t.

She turned and started muttering to herself but it was too low for Sam to pick up on anything cohesive. Though he did hear the words ‘horror’ and ‘woods’. He could imagine what was going through her head.

She locked the truck and hurried back into the house. From where he was he could still see their silhouetted figures dancing throughout the house, making it their own. _Her_ , instinct cooed so quietly he was able to ignore it as a passing interest.

There, as the sounds of the forest cocooned him and the sound of the waves soothed him, he should have listened harder.


	2. was to run in the shadows,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wrights move into La Push and Naima didn't know there could be so much work to do on a house. Eve starts school and is not impressed by Calculus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! So, so, so we're meeting the OFC today! Her name is Naima - pronounced Nay-mah - and I hope you like her. 
> 
> If there are any words that aren't English I'll add them in the Endnotes. I've tried to use words that can be understood within the context. BTW it gets a little bit political in this chapter and the same rules apply. Feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames and degradation are not. 
> 
> BIG shout out to Itohan for commenting, kudosing (?) and bookmarking. I'm blushing! Another shout out to Plagues_Vengeance for the kudos. I checked out your page and saw some pretty cool A:TLA fics on there :D

**TWO**

**was to run in the shadows,**

* * *

She was cold, but the thought was at the back of her head. She’d had enough time to become used to that, especially now that it was like she was constantly cold. As if crossing the ocean had transposed a chill deep into her bones.

Naima could almost pinpoint the exact moment she’d started feeling cold; it was somewhere between the faded wooden sign that read ‘Welcome to Forks’ and the oddly shaped Oak tree a mile and a half down. She’d only noticed the tree because Eve had said it looked like something was growing out of it. Naima had agreed, but not for the first time had she wondered if trees felt pain. 

But she bore the cold till it had become normal, and then she filed the thought away till it only popped up when she had nothing to do. 

And there was almost always something to do. 

Managing a house - making it a home - was hard work. They’d had a habit of moving; by the time Naima was 15, they’d moved a total of eight times. That was almost once every two years. She wondered how her mum had done it so often, and then the thoughts turned from fondness to sadness because her mother was no longer alive to ask. But there was too much to do to feel sad. So maybe it was better that she felt cold. 

It didn’t help that the house they’d rented was almost parallel to a large cliff, so the wind was constantly blowing towards them. The first time she saw it, Naima had been struck hard with an image of a rickety house standing over the sea with nothing but criss-crossing support beams from a film that had not ended well for the main characters. 

But it wasn’t on support beams. It was firmly on the ground. It was alright. And it wasn’t like the house was on the cliff. Just parallel to it. 

At least the salt air would be a nice change from the smog of London. 

The house itself was old - rustic - but it had the feeling of a potential home. It was obviously well lived in and even though the landlords had assured them that there had been a deep clean, there was still a lingering smell of something sickly sweet and woodsy. 

It was an odd mix of smells that Naima couldn’t quite place her finger on. She stood there and tried hard to not smell it too deeply because the staleness of it was making her feel queasy. It wasn’t until Eve said that it smelt a little bit like fruit tea that Naima understood. 

It wasn’t like fruit tea exactly. Herbal teas always smelt potent and inviting. But they hardly ever tasted like they smelt. Most of the time they were a watered-down version of the scent and that was what the lingering smell was like. 

“It’s tobacco,” their dad said. There was a distasteful look on his face. “The owner must have smoked a lot for the smell to still be here.” 

“Or they didn’t clean it properly,” Eve said unhappily. 

Naima didn’t say anything; for all the hoops they’d had to go through to get the house they could have at least made sure it was clean. Instead, she took stock of the state of the rooms while she opened one of the windows. The salt sea washed away some of the staleness but left cold in its path. 

The first thing would be to clean the carpets. Maybe even wash the walls. Then they would be able to move things around. 

That was what happened in the first week and it seemed like the hardest part. Their dad had managed to find a job in a garage in Port Angeles so more often than not he would need to take the truck, but eventually he’d bought a second-hand car at a reasonable price from one of the kids on the Reservation so that Naima could move things and go to the shops easily. 

She’d never thought they would be a household that had two cars but it was true what they said about America. And Forks’ public transport system was nearly non-existent. Eve was lucky she could walk to school when she eventually started a few weeks later because she couldn’t drive, and Naima wasn’t going to drop her and pick her up every day. Eve wasn’t 10. 

Naima struggled through everything. It wasn’t easy trying to manage everything without much help from her dad or Eve. And she didn’t expect them to help either. It wasn’t Eve’s job. She had school to go to and her own life to try and figure out. 

The school wasn’t bad though - as far as Naima could tell. There weren’t many to pick from other than the one in Forks and the one on the Reservation. Out of the two, Naima had a feeling Eve would be more comfortable at First Heritage and so she’d made a strong case for her sister. 

It had taken a couple of months of her promising Eve wouldn’t disrespect anyone, proving that she was a good student, making a case for the fact that she would be judged fairly harshly at the school in Forks for her Hijab - she had seen how white everyone was in Forks. It seemed like the epitome of a small town and small towns didn’t mix well with visibly different people - and in the end gave a donation towards the Reservation Preservation fund. 

The Quileute tribe held their culture closely, and Naima couldn’t even blame them. She didn’t know very much of their history other than the momentary comments she’d heard at school. But if what they had gone through was anything like the Aboriginals of Australia, or the Slave trading industry, then it was a well-founded concern.

So two and a half months in, Eve started the new year and a new term at First Heritage High and complained about having to wake up at six instead of eight. She moaned about the curriculum being either too simple or too complicated, and she almost drove her and her dad crazy over Calculus. “Why? Why would that ever be a subject?” 

Naima didn’t know. But she suggested Eve get a tutor, and then decided she’d find one for her sister anyway - even though she’d refused. Their dad went to work, came home, and didn’t complain about anything. That worried Naima more. He would come home, listen to the two of them and then he would eat and head off to bed. 

With everyone doing their own thing, Naima was left to deal with the house, otherwise, it would never get done. 

So she pulled up the closest DIY store on her phone and tried - very badly - to drive to it. She wasn’t sure how much she liked driving in America; it seemed a little more free-for-all than she was used to. And they drove on the wrong side of the road. But she managed to get to the store without any big issues (accidents), had parked up, and was in the store quickly. 

It was a smooth enough process to get the ivory and beige paint in the large tubs - especially after she’d told the overly helpful attendant that she was all good - and was walking around collecting the paintbrushes, rollers and tape that would be necessary to do a decent job. A painter she was not, but Naima had painted a room enough times to know what a difference smooth edges made to the overall look. Besides, if she was the one dealing with all of the decorating, then she was going to decorate the way she wanted. 

She was about to go to the till when, in the far corner of the paint section, she caught sight of a brilliant emerald colour. Naima moved closer towards the tin almost as if she were hypnotised. It was almost the exact colour of the leaves in spring back in London and instantly she wanted it. 

The issue was, someone had just taken it. 

The first time she saw him was less than stellar. It was the last tin of that amazing green, and the behemoth man had snatched it and walked to the till so quickly that she could only watch helplessly as he paid and left. Where was the justice in that? 

Nervously, Naima walked to the till with the equipment and paint she  _ had  _ found. The assistant looked at her anxiously and she immediately felt bad for making the poor guy’s job harder than it probably already was. She had worked her fair share of customer service jobs over the last couple of years. 

Now it was awkward because she really could have been nicer. But she asked anyway. She wasn’t going to leave and come back another day because she was feeling awkward and guilty. 

“Hi, sorry. I was just wondering if there was any more of that green paint you just sold? That seemed to be the last one on the shelf.” 

The boy checked the old computer next to the till and then shook his head. “No Miss, we don’t seem to have any more in stock right now.”

“When will it be back in stock?” 

“I think they actually discontinued that colour a while back, sorry,” he said.

She tried not to let her face show just how disappointed she was, but it was hard; she’d never been very good at putting on a face. It was probably why she’d had her fair share of customer service jobs in the first place. 

She didn’t seem to be doing too well at hiding her disappointment because the assistant became overly helpful again, asking her if there was any other type of paint he could interest her in. He began listing off three or four names that she assumed were close to the green that she wanted. 

It was equal parts impressive, overwhelming and worrying. Just how dull was his job that he’d memorised paint colours? 

She was almost angry at the boy until she realised that it was fine. She could order that colour paint online. And if she did, it would probably be cheaper. She wasn’t going to start with her room anyway. The front room was going to need to be worked on as quickly as possible. 

And there would be a lot of work to do, starting with peeling the old wallpaper off and seeing what the state of the walls looked like. She prayed they were fine. 

Naima wondered what their landlord would do if she had to get the walls re-plastered. They’d rented the house for the year which gave them some stability. It was also one of the stipulations for moving onto the Reservation. 

She’d thought that was unfair, but the Elders had told them they could pay in blocks of four, with the contract stipulating they would pay for the year - even if they left early. It was still unfair but the rent was cheaper than she’d expected. 

But if nothing else, the year gave them some stability. She was thankful for that because while America was far enough away to run from some problems, the need for proof of residence for their visas gave them permanency. And she really wanted that. 

They could leave, sure, but it would just make everything far harder. And she was ready to stay in one place for as long as she could. 

She was under no illusions. They would probably move once the tenancy contract was up. But she would be twenty-one going on twenty-two by that point and legally, she would be able to take guardianship over Eve if they both wanted to stay. 

And it wasn’t like she couldn’t afford to look after her. 

Besides, Eve would be eighteen herself soon enough and she’d said more than once that she was going to go to university. Whether she went to one in the US or in the UK, Eve seemed perfectly happy moving out and living by herself. 

So, while Naima hoped that they would all stay together, she knew that it was always helpful to have a backup plan just in case. 

Just like with that green paint. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hijab - a covering some Muslim women wear which is designed to cover their hair.   
> \--------------------------------------------
> 
> So, what did you think of Naima and her....interaction....with Sam? Let me know. 
> 
> Also, I was a little bit iffy about the way they were renting the house. I don't know...I wanted a legitimate reason for randos to move onto established Native American land. Does it check out, do you think? 
> 
> Once again, a big big thank you to thank_raziel for Betaing this chapter. I added some stuff after she looked through it so any mistakes are mine.


	3. the dark ray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve gets lost - of course she does - and meets Sam. They have a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, Thank you to my beta. She noticed an awful lot of things in this chapter and was kind enough to fix them. 
> 
> This one marks the last character focal point. So the rest of the story is going to revolve around Sam, Naima and Eve. Their thoughts and experiences. It was a lot of fun writing Eve. The "I don't want to hurt you" bit was adapted from something my little sister actually said in a self-defence class once. It was very cute and also very funny. 
> 
> Thank you Gypsy_Love for reviewing the last chapter. I was so excited to see your comment. And thank you Itohan for reviewing again!

**THREE**

**the dark ray**

* * *

Eve looked down one of the two roads she could potentially take. The roads looked far too similar to each other and she cursed herself for trying to take a short cut. 

Connie and Sonia had told her it was simple,  _ straightforward _ . She shouldn’t have listened to them. They didn’t know the struggles she had with following directions. 

How?! How was she sixteen years old and still struggling so much with directions? The town wasn’t even that big and yet, paradoxically, she still couldn’t get from one end of it to the other without getting lost. Eve decided she needed a car. Because while La Push’s High School was a bit closer than Forks High - Forks! Whoever decided to name a town something so close to Fucks was...well they had a decent sense of humour. It was probably a Brit annoyed by the inability to move from one side of town to the other without a horse - but it was still annoyingly far. 

Although, she did like walking around so maybe she didn’t  _ need _ a car. And it wasn’t like she knew how to drive either. 

Walking let her take her time, slow down and capture some really interesting shots on her camera. Once, she’d caught a spider resting on its dewy web and as it moved, the drops formed a spiral around its body. 

But in Washington, where it rained more times a month than there were people, it sucked to walk. The first time she’d walked to school, she hadn’t brought an umbrella - or a hood - and her Hijab had been soaked all throughout the day, which had been highly,  _ highly _ , uncomfortable. And then, when she got lost in something that looked like a forest, it sucked even more. 

_ Follow the road Eve. It’s not that hard. _ Yeah, it’s not that hard when you’ve walked the same shortcuts your whole life or have a TomTom guiding you. 

“You’re lost.” Eve jumped at the voice and whipped herself around with so much momentum that her bag hit her in the side - which hurt. But somehow she was far more concerned with the serial killer that was about to attack her and, somehow, knew she was way, way out of her depth in the directions department. 

“I’ll hurt you!” was the first thing that fell out of her mouth. As soon as her brain registered who had spoken she knew there was no way that that would be possible. The serial killer was about 6 foot-massive. It was actually embarrassing how easily he dwarfed her measly 5’5”. All he had to do was sneeze on her and she would be knocked out. 

“I’m sure you will,” Serial Killer said with a small smirk. So now he was going to patronise her? Oh yeah, that was great. 

How had she not heard him behind her?! There were always leaves on the ground and some of them were crunchy. What, had he pranced over them? 

“I have people waiting for me at home, and trust me, my sister will call the police if I’m not back within forty-five minutes from when I’m supposed to be home!” Maybe she shouldn't have said such a long amount of time. A lot could happen in that time, and if the serial killer was smart, he would know that too. 

He just raised a thick eyebrow and nodded. Like he was agreeing with her thoughts. And Eve suddenly was very aware that she was being agreed with by a serial killer - _ and what did that mean about her brain?  _

“I should probably tell you how to get home quickly then.” What could she even say to that except let out a distressed squeak. “Unless you aren’t lost.” 

“I don’t need you to tell me where I live - why would you know anyway?” 

“You live in Old Man Jimmy’s house, directly between the cliff front and the least travelled road in La Push. I was there when that house was rebuilt after half of it collapsed in 1995 and I helped Clara Jimmy put up the God-awful yellow wallpaper five years ago. I know that house.” 

“It is awful, isn’t it?” Eve sighed. “Alright fine.” If he already knew where she lived then it wasn’t like there was anything she could do to stop him from following her home. Eve may as well make use of his sense of direction and have him lead the way. “Lead the way Potential Killer.” 

He smirked. “If you insist.” 

“I do. But you’re going to walk in front of me, so I have eyes on you the whole way home.” Eve was quite proud of that plan. This whole situation would suggest that she thought well under pressure and if she ever needed to, she could probably place it on her CV.

The potential killer began leading the way. He walked forward for about a minute before he turned his head behind him to speak to her. “Would it make you feel better if you knew my name?” 

Not really. But it might help to be able to identify him to the police if something did happen. “Sure.” 

“Sam Uley.” 

“Great, thanks.” They walked forward for a little bit longer and suddenly they were out of the forest and walking down a dirt track road. Eve was embarrassed to admit that she still didn’t recognise the road, and so she kept that tidbit of information to herself. Instead she decided to accumulate as much information from Mr Sam-the-potential-killer-Uley as she could. “How old are you, Sam?” 

“Twenty-four.” 

“Where did you graduate from?” 

“First Heritage High.” 

“Calculus sucks there doesn’t it?” Eve pouted, thinking about the homework she would have to do that evening. 

“I was fortunate enough to have a best friend that was good at Math.” 

“Maths,” she corrected automatically. 

“What?” It wasn’t that he hadn’t sounded sure in himself, but Eve was a tiny bit thrilled that he wasn’t as sure of himself. 

“It’s maths. Like plural.” 

“If you say so.” 

She frowned. “Of course it is. There is more than one type of maths - as I’ve learned,” she muttered to herself, “so obviously it's maths.” 

He didn’t respond. They walked for another two minutes down the dirt road and Eve was starting to smell the salty sea air. It made her feel nauseous. 

“Where are you from?” he asked Eve. 

“London,” she answered automatically. Man, she missed home. She missed the  _ underground _ . 

Before moving to America, she’d not met very many Americans. But Eve remembered the few she’d overheard had seemed...entitled? Was that the word? She wasn’t sure, but something about them had rubbed her the wrong way. 

She’d really not liked how they’d walked into the restaurant they were at and demanded so much from the staff. It was overbearing and they were really bad at reading the room. 

She’d found herself doing the same thing when they’d first moved, and she’d tried to reign it in a little bit. She didn’t want the people at her new school to think she was entitled, stuck up or...posh. Just because she was from London. 

But the one thing she had really missed - and she hadn’t realised she’d taken it for granted - was the ease you could move about from one place to another. It was weird that there was only one school bus (that she’d seen so far). 

School busses were weird anyways. But the fact that there was only one? And not even in La Push, but only in Forks? 

Yeah, she missed the train. Maybe she could get a bike. 

“Are you enjoying La Push?” Serial Killer asked, bringing her out of her reminiscing. 

Was she? She thought carefully before she answered. “Mostly.” 

They walked some more, both in silence, both seemingly contemplating her answer. Eve more so, it was odd how quickly she had come to appreciate their new residence. It wasn’t quite what she wanted yet - and she was sure it never really would be - but it was enough till she could move back. 

She shook herself of the thoughts and made to ask another question, but he stopped. “You’re home.” 

“What?” She looked past his ginormous shoulder to see she was almost directly in front of her house. How did they get there so quickly? When she looked up at his looming figure she noticed he was giving her a weird half-smirk, half-smile. It was annoyingly attractive. 

Just his luck to be an attractive serial killer wasn’t it? “All the better to lure your in, my dear,” she mumbled under her breath. His smile grew wider - like he’d heard her. 

“You should get in. Your sister will be worried about you.” Mother forcker. 

“Yeah. Thanks.” She went to the door just in time for Naima to open it with a large bag of rubbish in her hands. 

Her sister looked up and smiled. “You’re home early.” Her eyes flickered behind her and when Eve turned, she noticed that Serial Sam was staring at her sister with an odd gleam in his eyes. As a rare beam of sun cleared the clouds and shone down on him, she saw an amber tint to his eyes. 

Well, that was weird. “Come on Nims. I need your help finding my books.” 

“They’re in your room,” she muttered, still looking at the guy. Well, if her sister wanted to outstare a killer then it was her funeral. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think of Eve? Honestly, she's the most fun to write for. 
> 
> I know this chapter was shorter than the rest and I feel a bit bad about it but it was just the natural place to end it. If I can write out chapter 24 by Thursday then I'll upload chapter 4 for this then. I'm just conscious that I gave myself 3-ish months to finish writing this fic and I've been a bit creatively stuck. Although I have a rough plot-point plan and have started the chapter so hopefully C24 will be done soon. 
> 
> I am also going to try and do NaNoWriMo this month. London is in Lockdown again and I have no job so I may as well. That's going to be a Harry Potter Fanfic which, if all goes well, I think I may be able to upload by the middle of December. Well, the first few chapters anyways.


	4. of life,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam meets with the Elders and is not impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all. Firstly, to any American readers, good luck. It's been a tough time this past year and I hope that this election brings some relief from at least the not knowing and the uncertainty of the votes being counted. 
> 
> Now...this chapter covers Sam's Imprint with Emily. I'm not sure how I feel about the way I did it...honestly, it's a bit of a blur and was a struggle getting what I thought Sam would be feeling into words, so feedback would be greatly appreciated. 
> 
> Happy reading! Also - yes I managed to write out the new chapter. Yay. But NaNo is sort of kicking my but this year. The fic is hard!

**FOUR**

****of life,** **

* * *

The Council of Elders had sat in front of him perplexed as Sam explained the pull to the outsider. They - who a year prior had stated firmly that Emily Young was his imprint - were now reconsidering everything they'd said. He almost felt sorry for their confusion if not for the fact that they had practically shoved the woman down his throat. 

He remembered everything changing like it was yesterday. 

Emily had come to see Leah before she started college. Sam hadn’t interacted with Emily much, even though she and Leah had been close growing up. Emily had always seemed a little bit too interested in Sam for his liking. 

He’d never told Leah of his suspicions - and suspicions were all they were - but there had always been a niggling in his stomach every time she tried to get close to him. So when Emily came over to La Push, Sam made himself scarce. 

But after he’d phased, something different had happened. 

Emily had been one of the first to see him after the initial phase. Sam had been stumbling home covered in twigs and leaves, stomach clenching at having to throw up the remnants of raw wood pigeon and rabbit he’d eaten in wolf form, just to survive. 

Emily had just been sitting on his front porch like she was waiting for him. And maybe she had been. 

“There you are. Leah was so worried,” she said softly. 

Sam didn’t remember saying much of anything. Maybe a grunt. But he was just so tired and Billy’s words were still ringing in his ear. _Protector...cold ones...Alpha. Gift._

He tried to move past her, to get into his house, but she stood in front of him and placed a hand on his chest. It was colder than he was used to. Even more than the normal wind-swept cold that settled under the skin in Washington climates. 

“Sam,” she said firmly. 

He looked up. Looked into her eyes. And the world shifted, tilting on its axis. 

“Emily,” he whispered, clutching her hand in his large one. 

He kept staring at her. Into her eyes, not moving as she brought her lips closer and closer to his. Suddenly everything revolved around Emily. Everything that mattered to her was his to provide. He could see her so clearly now and she looked too good to be true. 

And it was too good to be true. That startling attachment he felt to Emily wasn’t natural. It couldn’t be if it had pushed the years of love he’d had for Leah aside for a woman he didn’t know. 

A woman that he was kissing back. 

Sam remembered getting angry. So angry at the _gift_ that had taken away all his free will. And his control was tenuous at best. 

He pushed her away and phased. In front of Emily. Hurting her. 

She was too close; her arm had reached for his when he’d pushed her back and when he’d phased, his claws had struck it. 

Large angry gashes poured blood onto his porch, staining it deep red and Sam howled. 

Someone - Harry Clearwater - had found them and rushed Emily to the hospital in Forks. She’d needed surgery quickly and it had to be done by Carlisle Cullen. 

He was the only one who would know what to do. Who wouldn’t ask questions. 

Sam hated that he was now indebted to the very thing that had caused all of this trouble, but he’d swallowed that down along with the stench of Leech when he’d gone to the hospital. 

Somewhere between Emily’s reconstructive surgery and breaking up with Leah because he couldn't trust himself not to hurt her like he’d hurt Emily, Billy had sat him down to tell him about the legend of Imprinting and Sam had tried not to phase again. It was not fair. 

But it seemed like someone had told Emily about it as well because when he’d eventually gone to see her, she’d smiled up at him from the hospital bed. 

“I’m sorry...for hurting you,” he said. He had to tell her that. He had to. 

“It’s ok,” she said. 

“No, it’s not!” 

There was quiet between them. Sam didn’t know what else to say or how to deal with how easily she was forgiving him and he didn’t understand why. 

“The legends were true,” she said finally. 

“Yeah, they were.”

Another beat. “ _All_ of them?” she asked. 

Sam looked at her carefully. He had a sinking feeling about where this was going but he couldn’t lie. 

“Yes,” he said. 

“I knew it,” she whispered. And then she smiled again. 

She didn’t have to say anything more because Sam knew what she was thinking and he was disgusted. And as much as there was such a large part of him calling for him to listen to her, to be what she wanted him to be, he couldn’t do that to himself. 

Because Emily smelt of desperation and something else that he couldn’t place. But it was nauseating to him. 

“No, Emily.” 

“What?” 

“I don’t want this.” 

She’d looked at him with such confusion he almost felt sorry for her. 

“But I’m your imprint,” she said. 

“I don’t want it. I don’t want _you_ ,” he said. “And you don’t want me either.”

“What are you even talking about?” she hissed, angry at the outright rejection. 

Sam took stock of her. He didn’t know what came over him, but the words just felt _right_ to say. Maybe it was all the years of watching Emily from the corner of his eye or listening to Leah as she tried to justify some of the questionable things Emily had done. But he knew she wasn’t as nice as she made everyone think. 

And he knew that what he said was true. 

“You want a fairytale. Someone destined to be yours no matter what. Someone to love you unconditionally despite everything. Someone you can manipulate easily. And you’re more than willing to take your cousin’s boyfriend if it’s fated. But I won’t be that, Emily. I won’t be manipulated and I _won’t_ betray someone I love. _I’m_ not that desperate.” 

Her face said it all, but the relief Sam felt was palpable when she told him where he could shove his righteousness. And where he could shove his imprint. 

He left, still guilty about too much, but not unhappy. The Imprint called out to him more than he wanted, but as the days passed the pull lessened and lessened. And then Emily left and he felt nothing but the desire to stay away from her. He was happy about that. 

He would be what his Imprint wanted and she wanted him to stay the fuck away. Good. 

And he’d heard through the grapevine that she was in a happy relationship. 

But now, years later, as he stood before the Elders, not one of them could explain what it was that had his wolf go into such a state of want that he’d had to lock every muscle in his body not to pounce on the tiny thing. 

“We have been wrong before,” Elder Black commented, “and perhaps we rely too heavily on the journals. Only you will know, Samuel, what this is.” _Instinct_ , was the first thought in his head. Something separate to his wolf- insomuch as it was a separate layer to him; something the man could not access in human form, but fell succinctly in place when called upon by the wolf. 

“Our advice would be to tread carefully,” Elder Quil said. “It would not do to allow the outsiders knowledge that does not belong to them.” 

Tread carefully? He didn’t want that at all. He wanted to explore her in every way. The man wanted to know what made her tick, what had her - with her adorably posh accent - move halfway across the world when she could have stayed behind. What the thought process was behind her every decision. The wolf wanted to push her, test her, to the brink of what she thought she was comfortable with because it was sure that there was something strong in her gaze. She would be acceptable, but only if she allowed herself to be so. 

Instinct wanted something more - gruttal and beastly, but he couldn’t put it into words. It was lazy - no, in wait. 

Of what, he wasn’t sure. 

He was vaguely aware that the meeting was now at a stalemate. The Elders had said all they needed to say to ‘guide’ him along towards the right path, and he was done being fake-polite. 

“I’ll take your words into consideration.” He was going to do exactly what he wanted anyway - and they all knew it. As the Alpha, the first phased, Sam represented the continuity of their beliefs, but he also represented the fear of what was still looming. 

The Vampires were one thing, but he often wondered if the Elders truly believed that their ability to phase was a gift. Because at the back of each of his Pack’s mind, the thought was there. Each time the ripple of their bodies shifted from human to animal they recognised the grief, the loss of freedom. 

Perhaps centuries ago their abilities were gifts; to be able to hunt unbidden, to hold your community above everything and everyone, to unite under a common goal, and that goal being shared by every tribe member. Each one of those things was admirable and idyllic. But in the time of convenience and easy access, what was worse than being bound to one land to protect those who didn’t acknowledge them as more than a lost cause - at best. 

And now, apparently, they were supposed to use it to babysit one girl who drew far too much trouble to her. Jacob would have been inconsolable if they hadn’t gotten to the Leech lover fast enough before Dreadlocks had gotten to her.

It wasn’t what he’d signed up for. 

With a steady look at each of them, his gaze fell on Elder Uley - his grandfather - and he bared his teeth at the man. Levi Uley held his ground, but Sam heard his heart rate quicken for a moment and that was enough for him. 

Waiting outside for him was Jared and Paul. “What did they want this time?” Jared asked. 

Paul was quiet as he stood closer to the door Sam had just come out of, trying desperately to pick up any remnants of the Elders’ conversation. But it was too muffled to hear anything properly. 

He wanted to keep her private. She was his to understand after all, but there was no sense in not allowing his Pack some insight into the situation. Something else was at play and it would be irresponsible to keep information from them about something that could potentially involve them. “It’s easier if I show you.” 

His Second and Third looked at each other and then shrugged. They followed their Alpha into the woods, stripping off their clothes. Once phased they sat together in a circle filtering through Sam’s memories. It was uncanny how Sam saw his thoughts being deconstructed and commented in real-time - almost like they were commenting on a movie they were watching. He tried not to resist it; resisting made it harder on all of them. 

They lingered on his memory of the girl - Sam didn’t even know her name! What sort of weird juju was this that he was so attracted to a girl he didn’t know the name of? Paul wondered. But Jared knew that happened to people every day. Paul knew it didn’t happen like that!

Sam sat back and listened. 

Paul thought the most important thing to consider was how it would affect Sam and the girl. Would it be long-lasting? Jared angrily reminded them that an Imprint was _supposed_ to be long-lasting. Well, Paul thought Jared was bitter. But Jared wouldn’t be bitter if the Elders had the right information to give them. Wasn’t it enough that they turned into giant vampire-chasing wolves? 

Underneath it all, they knew that Jared was the most romantic out of the three. Since Jared had started walking and talking he’d expressed some sort of want for a happily-ever-after. 

That didn’t mean all of the Elder’s words were made out of willful ignorance, Sam reminded him. Maybe. But that didn’t explain the wolf’s attachment to the girl. What was Sam going to do? Paul thought it might be a good start to find out her name. Maybe spend some time with her. Sam thought Paul was an asshole. 

There was a gruff almost choking sound as the wolves laughed at each other. 

With nothing left to show each other, they all phased back and dressed once more. They began making their way to Sam’s house - his was the only one unoccupied by family. It was a rare day when the three of them all had a few hours off together and they were not going to waste it in the forest. If the others needed them, they would call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No comments last chapter but I did get a new bookmark and a Kudos! Thank you CheyChey10142 for your clicks. Try as I might, I do thoroughly enjoy the instant gratification that comes with comments, kudoses or bookmarks. I hope you continue to enjoy the fic. 
> 
> As usual, thank you to my beta reader thank_raziel and any mistakes are mine seeing as I added a whole backstory.
> 
> Also...I don't know if it will happen this time but it seems to constantly add the endnote from the first chapter and I don't know how to fix that. If anyone has any tips, that would be much appreciated because it annoys me.


	5. survival and instinct.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naima is decorating, and Paul is far too smug about something.

**FIVE**

**survival and instinct.**

* * *

The room was hot and humid. She knew her hair had grown exponentially despite the bun she’d put it in but there was nothing she could do about it. She’d shower tonight anyways, and she could plait it for tomorrow.

She was steaming the walls methodically as she tried to get the yellow wallpaper off. Whoever had chosen it had obviously not heard of irony because it looked like they’d chosen the exact type that would drive someone mad. No wonder their landlord had moved out.

It was depressing to look at.

She placed the plastic plate of the steamer up against the walls. Not directly on them because Naima didn’t know how old the walls were and she didn’t have time to get any holes from broken plaster fixed.

But the plate was up against it enough that the steam hit the wallpaper. It bubbled. Naima noted with morbid fascination that it looked alive. 

Parts of it were therapeutic. Like, when large strips of it would come off. Like glue on the skin. Therapeutic and oddly satisfying to pull away.

But when she went to peel off the next set of wallpaper, she mis-angled the steamer and shockingly, the steam hit her hand instead of the wall.

Naima cursed as the steam burnt her hand. She dropped it before it did too much damage, but she quickly moved to turn the steamer off from the plug and then went to the bathroom to run her hand under cool water. 

The burn calmed down after a few seconds under the cold but there was now an uncomfortable throbbing sensation as the skin on her hand mimicked the beat of her heart. Naima hated that feeling. 

Something about the feel of her heartbeat throbbing in a place it shouldn’t made her skin feel tight. In those moments, the rare ones, when the presence of something made her wonder about its absence.

When she pulled her hand away there was a noticeable red patch on her already brown skin. She frowned and waited in anticipation to see if the throbbing would stop. 

She counted. Thu-throb. Thu-throb. Thu-throb. Thu-throb. Thu-throb.

The pulsing kept going, and the more she thought about it, the more she could feel throbbing all over her body just underneath her skin. She wondered if it would stop. 

It didn’t.

Sighing, Naima tried to remember where they had put the burn cream. The cold water on her hand had evaporated into the steam of the room before she remembered that she hadn’t seen the medical supplies box as they’d been unpacking. And then she remembered why; it had been the one bag that her dad had said they wouldn’t need to bring. 

He had insisted everything would be fine, and at the very least, there would be shops to buy things from. 

Angry now, at the incompetence of her father, Naima wondered what she would do. She could try and drive to the nearest shop and hope that they sold something that would soothe her hand. But when she tried to clench it, and it hurt, she decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to drive on wet roads with one hand. That didn’t leave many options. 

She didn’t need to go to the hospital. It was a bit of a burn, nothing too bad. Superficial at worst. And besides, she wasn’t looking forward to testing out whether she’d filled out the insurance forms properly just yet. Better to try and do that another day - although that _would_ need to be done. They couldn’t rely on free health care anymore. 

Great.

It was funny. Twenty years alive and she’d only had to go to the A&E once in London when she was 17; she’d thought she’d swallowed a piece of metal and on her birthday no less. The doctor had given her a sip of water and told her that because she hadn’t thrown up, there was nothing trapped in her throat. She’d be fine.

Less than four months in America and she burnt herself. That was some universal law.

Sighing, she found a piece of cloth that hadn’t been used and put it under the cold tap. When the cloth was sufficiently wet, she wrapped it around her hand and gritted her teeth when the cold stayed on her skin for longer than was comfortable.

Maybe now would be a good time to introduce herself to her neighbours. God knew no-one else in her family would do it for them. 

With that thought she walked out the house and up the hill, trying to find the closest place. 

It turned out that there was a fair bit of land between her and her neighbours, but Naima put aside the grumbling and instead focused on trying not to fall on something and further damage her hand. At least the cloth and the cold air was relieving some of her pain - and she really should have remembered to bring a coat or a jumper, or _something_ to stop the rain falling on her head because of course it was raining! 

Finally though, after what felt like half an hour, but could have also been fifteen minutes, she came across a house. It was decorated simply, beautifully, and had a front garden her grandma would kill for. She hoped that someone was home. 

When she knocked on the door and no-one answered, the pit in her gut got worse. Naima was just about to turn around and go back home, deciding that she would just keep putting cold water on her hand until someone could get her something when the door opened. 

A woman, as simply beautiful as her home, opened the door and Naima - who had been preparing all the things she would say and the way she would say them in - was suddenly struck dumb with nerves. There was a bag and keys in her hand as if the woman was going somewhere in a hurry. So when she saw Naima standing there, she looked at her in confusion before a small smile appeared on her face. 

“Can I help you, hon?” 

Naima opened her mouth to talk. “Hi, I-” she choked on air and coughed for a second. The woman’s hands came forward as if to stop her from dying but Naima recovered. “Sorry, I - I’m Naima. I - my family and I - we moved into the house on the cliff and I was trying to get the wallpaper off, and I burnt my hand. No-one was home and I didn’t want to drive so I thought -”

“Oh honey, are you ok? Let me see. I’m a nurse.” 

_Well that’s lucky_ , she thought. Naima extended her hand to the woman and she gently unwrapped the cloth to look at the burn. She hummed as she saw it. “It’s not bad. I have something that will help. Come inside - I have to leave for work in a minute but my son can help you - Paul!” 

Naima flinched at the loud shout but followed the woman inside her house. She waited at the doorstep as the woman called for Paul again and watched with wide eyes as the biggest guy she’d ever seen walked down the steps. 

He raised his brow when he saw her standing on his front door, slightly wet and cradling her arm. “Wh’re you?” he mumbled. 

“Paul, I need you to find me the Aloe and then help her. I’ve got to get to work now, I can’t be late again. Can you do that?” 

“Yeah,” Paul said, not taking his eyes off her.

Naima looked down, seriously uncomfortable and just wishing that she’d stayed at home. Now she was in a stranger’s house being stared at like she was a freak and it was not something that she appreciated. 

“Great. There’s food in the fridge. I’ll be home by midnight. Just text me if you’ve got to go out so I know where you are.” The last bit of the sentence was said with a pointed look that Paul rolled his eyes at. He nodded and then all of a sudden, the woman - whose name Naima had never been given - was out of the door and she was still standing with the big guy in front of her. 

“Hi,” she said lamely. 

The guy chuckled. “Sam’s gonna love this.”

That inspired _no_ confidence in the situation at all.

“You’ve got a burn then?” he asked. 

“Um, yeah. It’s not a bad one though, at least that's what your mum said.” 

He hummed, that was all, but from the sound, Naima got a sense that he was saying more than he was letting on.

She didn’t like that sound. Never had. But she was used to it so there wasn’t much point in fully acknowledging it. “Alright, let’s get your hand sorted.” 

He turned to walk further into the house and Naima stood there dumbly, not sure whether she should follow the man or stay where she was. The clarity she needed was given only a few seconds later when he called her from over his shoulder. Naima followed, scuttling along after him and taking in the house. It really was a beautiful home. 

When they got to the kitchen Paul pulled out a first aid kit from one of the cupboards and set it on the counter. “Let me see.” 

She held out her hand gingerly and he took it. For some reason Naima was surprised by the careful, almost gentle, grip of his hand as he held hers. She considered that it had something to do with his size and his general attitude. It sounded too simple, but Naima had a feeling that there was something hiding just underneath his skin, waiting for the moment where it could break free. 

He was mostly silent as he cleaned the wound but once she hissed in pain he spoke. “So, how’d you do this then?” 

“I was using a steamer and I lost control of it. Hit me in the hand.” 

“Ouch.” 

“Yeah. But it could have been a lot worse.” 

He hummed again. “You moved into Old man Jimmy’s, right?”

Naima nodded.

“What have you got to do in the house?” 

She heaved a sigh. Remembering what there was left to do always made it feel like there was so much more. “A lot; the painting, getting some more furniture, organising rooms, getting the bills sorted. I think some of the lighting or the wiring isn’t great and there aren’t any fire alarms so I’m going to have to call Mr Jimmy or his daughter about that too.”

“Seems like it's gonna take you some time.” 

“Probably.” She held back another sigh and tried not to think about it too hard. It was one thing to have the list in her head, but talking about it out loud...it was becoming slightly difficult to hold back tears. 

And she really didn’t want to cry in front of a stranger if she could help it. She had a feeling that this guy wouldn’t be all that accommodating about some random woman breaking down because she was slightly overwhelmed. So she looked up into a source of light which happened to be a lamp well-placed opposite her.

It burned away the tears well. 

“You got anyone helping you?” 

Naima snorted. “Not likely.” 

“Well, if you want some help, I know a guy. He’s pretty good with fixing up houses.” 

Naima looked down at her now bandaged wrist. “Thanks for the offer - I don’t know that we can afford professional help - with the house.” 

Paul shrugged. “I’ll give you his number anyways. He’s handy to have in case you need something fixed. And I’m pretty sure he’d be willing to give you a few tips as well.” 

“Well,” she paused. If the man was willing to then it would be stupid to refuse the offer. Any help to get the house sorted. “If he’s alright with it…”

“Trust me, he’ll be fine with it.” He got out his phone and Naima found herself fiddling around for hers. 

“Oh! I think I left it back home.” 

“That’s cool. I’ll write it on a piece of paper for you.” From underneath the cupboard he’d gotten the first aid kit from, Paul pulled open a drawer and got out a pad of yellow paper. It was almost surreal to see - they actually had those in America. Naima snorted to herself. 

“What?” he asked, pausing his movements. 

“Nothing,” she said. 

Paul wrote out the number and handed it to her. Naima pocketed it and then smiled thankfully at Paul. 

“So, who should I say Sam will be expecting a call from?” Paul asked.

“Naima - Naima Wright.” 

“Cool. I’ll let him know.” 

“Thank you, Paul.” 

“Not a problem Naima.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found Paul enormously fun to write in this scene. I love than he knows enough about the situation that he's playing wingman on the DL. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the read. It's so lovely to know that the characters seem real to people, or they enjoyed specific scenes. It's so weird that I've posted for a month now. It feels like time is running out for me to finish off the chapters that I haven't done yet (eep). But I'm working on them.


	6. A fierceness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared is having a lot of fun teasing Sam. Sam is somehow relieved and angry at serendipity, but he makes the most of what he's given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, a grateful thank you to my Beta and everyone who commented, kudosed or bookmarked the story, especially Cassunjey who commented on three separate chapters. SQUEAL. It means a lot and makes it so much more fun to post when I can interact with readers.
> 
> Ok, I have to say. I'm writing out the rest of the chapters slowly over NaNo and it's such a weird headscrew that I'm writing angst and romance between Sam and Naima over there *points to future chapters* and then coming back to re-read and edit here. They feel like awkward babies now and it's so cute! And frustrating. Lol. 
> 
> I'm going to warn you all. When I tagged slow burn, I meant it. But I hope that you enjoy their development as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Hopefully more so in some places because there were a few chapters that were a bitch to write. 
> 
> Also - I said 30 chapters, but I'm not fully sure that's how many it'll be. It may be more. It's unlikely to be less.

* * *

**SIX**

**A fierceness**

* * *

Sam looked at Jared as Jared stared at the TV screen, aggressively playing Halo. Although he couldn’t see his own face, Sam assumed that it was slack-jawed and just…confused. “He gave her my number?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Jared said completely unfazed. “Was he not supposed to?”

Sam didn’t say anything in response. He just kept looking at Jared. He wouldn’t have been able to explain the confusing loop going around in his head if he wanted to. He just knew that he was confused – and possibly panicking a little.

“Look,” Jared said, “you wanted a way to figure out what’s going on, right? Well, now you’ve got the perfect excuse.”

That was true. At least this wouldn’t look suspicious if he was around her all the time.

Sam tried to rearrange his face and hoped it didn’t look like a deer in headlights. Jared was one of his best friends, sure, but that didn’t mean he wanted to look like an idiot in front of him. “Fine,” he said firmly, and Jared snorted.

Apparently, he wasn’t fooling anyone. Sam left him to his game.

Still, even if Paul had conveniently forgotten to tell him, Sam appreciated the straightforward way that his Second dealt with things; in the span of a single meeting, Paul had arranged a situation that would help Sam figure out whatever odd shit was going on in his head. Or was it his gut? It was hard to tell when it came to Wolf things. And if everything went well, he’d be able to spend some time getting to know the girl - Naima. 

That was an interesting name, to say the least. He wondered where it came from. He also wondered if a week was long enough to give her the opportunity to call. He hoped so.

Sam had been forced to work on his impatience over the years; it had gotten better once he’d forced it, but it had never truly gone away. Nor had his inquisitiveness.

It had made phasing back to human very difficult after the initial anger had faded. 

In the meantime, he saw the little sister throughout the town and the Reservation a few times. As far as he could tell, their dad seemed to work somewhere in Port Angeles as an electrician, though he had been called out a couple of times to Forks for an emergency. How much of it was an emergency and how much of it was the need to satisfy town gossip was anyone’s guess.

The man didn’t seem like he was a very dedicated electrician, but who was Sam to judge how a man made his money? 

He’d learnt the sister’s name which he supposed was a certain level of progress to be proud of. Eve had reeked of anxiety when he’d found her in the woods that day. The anxiety hadn’t lessened much by the end of their exchange but at least now, when he saw her around the Reservation, she smiled at him. He smiled back - obviously - but every time he saw either the sister or the dad, he wondered if Naima would ever call. 

Those seven days took a surprisingly long time to pass and by the time it was over, Jared was laughing in Sam’s face. “You look like a frustrated puppy,” he said. 

Sam pursed his lips but didn’t respond. How could he? He supposed it was true. But it was not a crime to want to figure out how the spirits or the ancestors - or whoever else - were fucking with his life. 

When the week was over, Sam considered how he would approach her. Because he was all too aware that it was really _really_ odd to just turn up at a stranger’s house and provide tips on how to get the house in a living condition. 

It was sort of nice that these were the things he had to worry about though. After the last few months of worrying whether the Swan girl would off herself – and whether or not that would be an infraction on the Treaty because it was sort of the bloodsuckers’ fault – training the twins, dealing with the heavy-handedness of the Council _and_ making sure work was going according to schedule, having to deal with how to approach a girl was almost easy.

The answer came almost serendipitously. That pissed him off more than a little.

He was at the Home Depot, picking up some things he needed for a new job when he smelt her. There was nothing that he could pinpoint in her scent that made any sense to him, but it had a grip on him regardless. So, he followed it all the way to the paint section and watched her for a moment as she looked at the selection of paint before her. 

There was a cart next to her with what seemed like wallpaper lining, lightbulbs and paintbrushes. 

Sam considered what Paul had told him – that she was doing up the house by herself – the pride he felt left him with questions that he would need to figure out later. But the fact that she had the fortitude to take on such a big project? It was admirable, to say the least. 

And it was also somewhat cute that she was now trying to get one of the tins of green paint from the topmost shelf that was at least a foot too tall for her to reach. 

“Do you need some help?” he asked from where he was standing. 

She jumped and with a yelp, looked back at him. Her brown eyes were wide in panic, her curls framing them, making them all the more noticeable, and her mouth was open as if she was about to yell. He watched as she collected herself, then frowned at him. “That’s…not nice,” she said. 

“Sorry,” he said with a grin. “I figured you’d prefer I ask from back here.” 

“Well, that’s true.” 

“So, would you like some help?” he asked again. 

She looked between Sam and the paint and scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, I would.” 

Sam smiled and placed the basket he was holding down on the floor. He noticed her eyes follow the movement before meeting his again. She backed away as he walked forwards, placing herself to his left. Her scent was almost overwhelming, and Sam fought to keep back the purr that was forming in his chest. Somehow, he thought freaking her out would be detrimental to his plan. 

“This green?” he asked instead. 

“Yeah.” 

He pulled it down and looked at the name; Forest Green. It would be a dark colour. “You and your family just moved onto the Rez isn’t that right?” 

She gave him a tight smile. “Yep. Does everyone know?” 

Sam shrugged. “It’s a small community where not much happens. Gossip travels fast.” 

“Good to know. That’s going to be interesting getting used to.” 

“Sorry,” he said, returning the smile she was giving him. 

She shrugged it off. “Well, the first step to making us less interesting is getting to know the locals.” She held out her hand for him to shake and he transferred the paint from his right to left hand so he could do so. “I’m Naima Wright.”

“Sam Uley.” 

“Really? That’s funny.” 

“Why?” 

“Someone I met - Paul - he gave me your number so that I could ask for help with the house we moved into.” 

Sam bit back a chuckle and thanked Paul silently again. “I think he mentioned that to me.” 

“That’s good.” Naimah shuffled slightly, shifting the weight between her two feet. 

“I can give you some pointers if you want,” Sam offered. He watched her think it through for a moment. “For example, the green - is it for a bigger space?” he asked. 

“What?” 

“The paint. Is it for a space like a living room or…” he trailed off. 

“No - well I want to use it in my room. Maybe one wall green, or a corner. I haven’t thought about it a lot, to be honest, but I know I want green.” 

Sam nodded. He looked at the tin again and then to Naima.

“I don’t know how much you know about decorating -”

“Very little.”

“Well then,” he smiled, “I would pick a lighter green. Darker colours tend to make rooms look smaller.” 

“Really?” she asked. Her face scrunched up again - it was a very expressive face - and she looked glum. Then her eyes lit up. “What if I put a mirror on the other side of the wall? Wouldn’t that make the room seem bigger?”

Sam smiled at her ingenuity. “Yeah. It’s a pretty basic trick to having a smaller room. Seems like you don’t even need much help.” 

“Oh,” she bit out. “I do! I just don’t want to seem like I’m taking advantage of you - not paying for expertise or anything. My dad doesn’t want to...pay for anything.” 

There was a moment, as Sam looked at her, that it seemed like she was fighting with the instinct to feel ashamed at that statement. He said nothing, just watched, and very quickly the fight was over and Naima looked settled with the fact. 

He smiled proudly. “Think of it as a welcome to the community.” 

“Really? Are you sure?” When he responded affirmatively, she let out a small laugh. It was more air than it was sound, but he understood the relief that came from it. 

“If you want, I could come over to the house and see where you can save some time or some money.” 

“That would be amazing, Sam.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? It's on the shorter end so I'll update again on Thursday with chapter 7. 
> 
> I've been toying with the idea of also celebrating milestones. Possibly like writing a one-shot for the 10th commenter so long as it links up with/can be separate from when I've been working on (so no kisses or anything like that). I really like the idea and if my counting is correct, then we're on 8. So... ;)


	7. that was both proud and lonely,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve makes new friends in the Littlesea twins, Sam is around their house a lot and her dad... is sort of rude. It's not like its the diners fault there aren't more than 3 Muslims in La Push.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 7! It's a day early - well, sort of - but I'm quite busy tomorrow. Eve's back and she was really fun to write again. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you to those who commented, kudosed and bookmarked. The thrill of seeing an email from AO3 is...heheh. 
> 
> Last chapter I asked if people would be interested in celebrating milestones by possibly writing a one-shot for the 10th commenter, then the 25th then the 50th - if it gets that high of course. I don't know if anyone saw it so I figured I'd ask if you were interested again. Let me know.

* * *

**SEVEN**

****that was both proud and lonely,** **

* * *

Eve had been shocked when she’d unlocked her front door and the sound of a man’s voice that was very much not their father’s and yet somewhat familiar came through the door. 

She’d almost shrieked out when she saw Sam Uley, but the force of teenaged pride held it back. It seemed it was good for something. “Hello Serial Killer,” she’d said in a monotone, no-nonsense voice. 

“Eve! That’s so rude!” Naima had exclaimed but Sam waved her off. 

“You seem to be pretty fond of following my directions considering you think I’m a serial killer,” he responded without a moment's hesitation, all the while an amused smile hung on his face. 

Interesting. That had been a good enough response that she begrudgingly felt some respect for the man. And he would probably leave soon anyways so, apart from the odd times that she’d seen him around the town, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. 

But he had stayed.

One visit had turned into two, into three, into helping lay wallpaper - which thank God because Naima was terrible at trying to line up the wallpaper - into coming with other giant men to lay the carpet, into so many more things. 

He’d been over at her house more times in that month than she had! Ok, that was an exaggeration. But he was there a lot! 

She was inclined to take offence and start disliking Sam again, but the problem was Naima had seemed far less uptight since she’d been hanging around with Sam. And that was good for everybody, but mostly her. 

Naima could be a bit of a nosy cow. She loved her sister but the fact that Eve had to give the details of her entire day at school every time she came home was starting to get on her nerves. Sam seemed to keep Naima’s attention on the house, and considering he often came by later in the afternoon or the early evening meant that Eve didn’t have to do a play-by-play of her day.

It didn’t escape her notice that Sam would come on days that their dad worked the late shift though.

But, at least with Sam came the two painstakingly annoying yet funny twins Brady and Colin. They were in the same year as her even though they were the size of freaking _men_! What was up with that?

They were fun to hang around with when they were in school, though. But there was a surprising amount of time that the two weren’t there, and when Eve had asked someone at her school about, they’d frowned. “Yeah, the Littlesea twins took a lot of time off last year - like at least a couple of weeks.” 

“Really? And they’re still allowed in school?” There would have been no way that a kid could do that back at her school in London - she’d been sick for three days once and her school had _called_ her dad up to tell him. Eve rolled her eyes at the memory. 

“Yeah. For whatever reason, the school board lets them off.” Then the person began muttering about favouritism and gangs which Eve didn’t particularly believe because she’d hung out with some of the guys in this supposed ‘gang’ and none of them seemed like they were dickheads. 

Maybe they were taking steroids though. Maybe. They were _gigantic_. 

But never let it be said that she didn’t try to be fair. If there was one thing her mother had installed in her before she died it was that you shouldn’t always judge a book by the cover - unless it was a stupid book. Then by all means judge. 

It was a flawed ideology. Their mother had not been perfect. 

So the first time she’d seen them outside of class - which happened to be in a diner where they served the best pancakes she’d ever tasted - she walked away from her sister and her dad, towards the boys, sat at their table and quite abruptly spoke. “I heard you were in a gang. I don’t think that’s true, but you do miss a _lot_ of school. Why?” 

They were a bit flabbergasted. Which was perfect; this tactic was one that generally got the best results from her friends back in England so why wouldn’t it work on Americans who were - if she was going to be perfectly honest - far less underhandedly sly than Brits were. 

“What are you talking about?” one of them asked. 

“To be honest, I don’t care all that much,” Eve responded. “I think you guys are pretty cool and I want to be friends with you, but you are sort of weird.” 

“Ouch,” the other said. 

Eve shrugged. “Honesty runs in the family.”

“We’re not in a gang,” the first one said. “Well - we kinda are - but not that kinda gang.” 

“Yeah, it’s more like a group of people who try and help the Rez in unconventional ways.” 

“And that means you get to skip school?” Eve asked. 

The second one snorted. “Yeah. It does.” 

Eve hummed. She looked between the two trying to distinguish if there was anything different between them, but it was annoyingly difficult. Well, they _were_ identical. “Can I join?” 

They started laughing at the same time and there was a difference in their tones but not much else. “It doesn’t work like that,” the second one said. “But if it did, you could join.” 

“You’re pretty funny,” the first retorted. 

“You’re pretty funny looking,” she retorted right back. 

He smirked; Eve smiled. Suddenly it was like something overtook them all at the same time and they all began laughing. Some of the diner veterans turned to look at the three teens but none of them could be bothered to care. Eventually, they stopped laughing and Eve looked at them. 

“So, Sam introduced us ages ago but I can’t tell you apart yet.” 

“Colin,” the first said. 

“Brady,” said the second. 

“Eve.” 

“Do you like pranks?” Brady asked. Eve smiled a mischievous single-sided smirk and apparently it was answer enough because Brady grinned. “I think this is gonna be the start of a good friendship, Evie.” 

“Not if you call me ‘Evie’ again,” she retorted. That name made her feel like a baby.

Eve heard her name being called and when she turned to look over her shoulder, Naima and her dad were watching her expectantly; Naima had an oddly amused face on while her dad just looked frowny. She looked back at the boys and let them know she would be getting their numbers when she next saw them in school. 

When she got back to her table her dad was watching her. “What was that?” he asked in a deep monotone voice. 

Eve shrugged. “They were a couple of the guys that helped us with the house. They’re my age and are in a few of the same subjects as me.” 

“Are you friends?”

“I hope so,” she said. 

The waitress came and they both put in their order. Their dad only ate the things he knew for sure hadn’t touched any of the meat seeing as it was unlikely that the meat in La Push was Halal. There was one small Halal butchers in the middle of nowhere in Port Angeles and Eve was honestly so happy her dad worked in the…city? Was that what Port Angeles was? Well, whatever it was, she was thankful; she didn’t have to become vegetarian because she lived in a small...something, a Halal butcher existed. 

She was pretty sure that wasn’t where the diner got its meat. Though they had never asked. 

And it wasn’t like they were making pancakes on the same grill as they fried their bacon. Naima and Sam had actually asked to make sure that wasn’t happening because apparently the diner was owned by Sue Clearwater who was someone or another’s mum. She was pretty happy to comply once Naima had somewhat timidly explained the situation.

But their dad still didn’t eat the pancakes. It was sad – and possibly rude – for him anyways. For Eve, that meant that she got all the more for herself because they were the absolute _best_. 

“You seemed pretty close with them already.” There was a finality to his voice that Eve noticed but dismissed. He was always like that, overly protective, overly cautious - especially after Naima had stopped wearing her Hijab. It was just how he was. 

“They’re just friends dad. It’s good she has some,” Naima responded, smiling at Eve. Eve smiled back but she already knew how this conversation was going to end. 

“It’s best not to make friends with the opposite sex. Boys only want one thing-” 

“Yeah but I don’t want that from them.” Besides, wearing a Hijab was almost like a deterrent. There hadn’t exactly been an abundance of male attention back in London - and she was quite happy with the way that worked out for her to be honest. 

“Eve is good you know,” Naima said, coming to her rescue. Not that she needed it but it was nice all the same. “And not every man wants sex from a woman. I’ve been friends with enough guys -”

“Don’t listen to your sister. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” 

Eve looked away feeling slightly awkward, especially because she knew that that particular comment would ruffle Naima’s feathers. But the amount of times Eve had told her sister to just ignore it could pay for enough pancakes for a week. But for some reason, Naima couldn’t let it go. 

Eve could see now that she was biting her tongue and her eyes were a little bit glassy - like she was about to cry - and Eve sighed. “I’ll be fine dad. Don’t worry.” 

“It’s my job to worry.” 

“Worry over something else then - like that faulty light in the bathroom. It flickers off and on every time I try to make wudu in the morning.” 

He hummed. “Maybe I’ll look at it in the evening.” The food came. “Do you want to both watch a film with me tonight? We can try and set it up on the tv.” 

Eve shrugged, then nodded but Naima kept quiet until he looked at her. “I don’t think I can tonight. I’m really tired.” 

Their dad nodded. “You’ve been doing a lot of work on the house. Well done. It’s looking good.” 

“Thanks,” she said, smiling a little. “I wanted it to feel like a home while we’re here.” 

“It’s good!” Eve said, beaming at her sister. If there was something Eve admired, it was Naima’s ability to take care of people. She was loyal - sometimes to a fault. 

“When the house is done, you might want to try and find a job. Things are more expensive than I planned for them to be.”

“Right,” Naima said. “Ok then.” She was smiling but Eve wasn’t sure it was a smile that met her eyes and she felt bad. Like she couldn’t make enough of a contribution to help around the house. But Naima wouldn’t let her get a job. School was more important apparently. 

But Naima did want Eve to enjoy her time at First Heritage, so maybe making a couple of new friends would help her sister in some small way. 

And so that was what she did. She developed a friendship with the twins. She hung out with other people from her classes as well, but somehow even though Eve had never really had guy friends, (and why would she have when she went to a girl's secondary school before leaving for America) she clicked with them well. 

But they never did answer her questions and it wasn’t often, but sometimes one, or both of them, wouldn’t come into school. When she asked them, they would just claim tiredness and/or illness as their reasoning. 

She watched them closely because it was highly unlikely that the two at their peak were actually sick all the time.

And it bugged her that they didn’t tell the truth. It probably wasn’t any of her business but Naima wasn’t the only nosy cow in the family. She was just better at hiding it than her sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halal - The word ‘halal’ literally means permissible. In the context of this chapter, it means that animals (almost anything other than pork. Pork is not permissible to eat unless under very specific situations - have been killed in a specific way as is stated in Islamic law.  
> Wudu - A procedure for cleansing parts of the body (hands, arms, face, head, nose, behind the ears and feet) a Muslim will partake in before prayer or reading the Quran (the holy book).   
> \--------------------------------------------
> 
> Hehehe. I plan for Eve and the twins to get up to mischief! Also! I've managed to get to 28 chapters. I think that this is going to get to 31 chapters and then a sequel that takes place around Breaking Dawn.


	8. a tearing,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are truths spoken that haven't been said before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday. Thank you to my wonderful beta, to the people that subscribed and kudosed :)
> 
> There is angst in this chapter....so...yeah. I hope I do it well. I'm never very conscious of when I actually write angst or hurt... 
> 
> We're almost at the end of this 'arc' that I wrote. Four more chapters and then it'll be onto a different dynamic between the characters *mischievous grin*

* * *

**EIGHT**

****a tearing,** **

* * *

It was another one of those rare sunny May days where Sam found himself at Naima’s house, only now it was almost done. Between his help, Paul’s, Jared’s and the occasional visit from the twins (only so they could earn some money) their house was almost at the place that Naima wanted it to be. 

Sam knocked on the door and waited for a few moments and, even though there was no answer he heard someone milling about inside. A moment later, he distinguished the person as Naima. She was humming. 

He checked to see if the door had been left unlocked. It wasn’t usually – something about habits from big cities dying hard – but when she knew he was coming over she’d leave the door on the latch.

He opened the door and stepped inside, following the voice to the kitchen where he saw her preparing a dish - something Indian if the base ingredients were something to go by. He was about to go up to her - maybe scare her a little bit because why not - when she started singing. 

_They say only fools fall in love,_ _  
__well they must have been talking about us_ _  
__Sometimes I feel like I’ve been here before_ _  
__I could be wrong but I know I’m right_  
 _We’re gonna be lost if we continue to fight_ _  
Honey I know, we can find our way home._

He didn’t know the song but Naima was ok at singing. There were parts he assumed were a little bit off-key - but there was gravel to her voice that made something click for him. 

It was a love song - obviously - but it didn’t resonate with traditional love. Something was missing from it. Or…suddenly he could tell that there was something missing for her. And as he looked over his memories of the last few months, he saw it. 

It showed in the way that her smile was still a little bit hollow - even though she was immensely proud of her accomplishment - any time she looked at a finished room. It was there in the way she talked about her father and he hadn’t noticed it. Not till now. The tone of her voice had been just shy of flat. Like she was injecting something into it that shouldn’t have been there. And it was in the way she didn’t fully talk about why she’d moved from London. 

In all the time he’d known her, Naima wasn’t a particularly cheerful person. Her wit was dry, and her sense of humor came from sarcasm and the occasional thought of someone physically hurting themselves. It was slightly dark, but Sam appreciated it was her sense of humor all the same. And he had to agree that there was a certain charm to watching Jared get hit on the head with something Eve had chucked at him because he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. 

But she laughed. She joked around, she insulted those she felt close to and in all of that, she did it with more openness - truthfulness - than quite a few people he knew other than his Pack. 

Except in those moments when she looked on with a pinched face and a slightly glazed over look. Sam didn’t like seeing that look on her face. It didn’t suit her and it made him itch. Unbidden, he realized that he hardly ever saw it because she was fighting something.

“Naima?” he called out, loudly enough that she could hear him over her earphones. She turned, startled. 

“Sam! What’s the time?” 

“Past three.”

“Ah man! I lost track of time. Sorry.” 

He smiled and shook his head, letting her know it was fine. But all the while, it was niggling in his mind and he wanted to know what she wasn’t telling him. 

“Can I take you somewhere?” he asked. 

She looked taken aback. And she bit her lip. She did that a lot around him he’d noticed recently. 

“I have to finish this…”

“Please?” he asked gently. “I’ll get you back before your dad is home.” Her lip twitched and he tried very hard not to narrow his eyes. “Please.” 

Slowly she nodded. “Alright - but let me text Eve so she knows where I am.” 

She followed him to his truck and hopped in, texting Eve and then buckling herself in. She smiled at him and tilted her head. 

“Where are we going then?” 

“Somewhere that’s special to me.” 

“Why?”

He smiled - such a typical response. Sometimes she reminded him of a child with her blunt curiosity but he appreciated it anyway. There had been a few times over the last few months where her bluntness had forced him out of a stupor or an annoyance. 

“I guess I wanted to congratulate you for getting your house up and running in such a short amount of time.” 

“It’s not done yet,” she said with a huff. “And besides, that doesn’t answer my question.” 

“Well, since you moved onto the Rez, you haven’t been to the beach yet. And what better way to see it than with a local?” 

Her smile was wide and excited. Her eyes lit up and from then on, he was met with an almost non-stop chatter. 

Sam hadn’t meant to take her to the cave; his intention had really been to just get her out of the house so that they were on neutral ground. He had a feeling that this was going to be a difficult conversation. 

But the cave was important to him. It had been the one place he’d found solace after his father had left, after he had phased for the first time. The cave was deep enough that when you went inside all you could hear was the sound of the waves rolling around the rocks. It was soothing, comforting. 

He hoped some of that could brush off on Naima. 

“This is a pretty awesome place. How’d you find it?” 

“I was lucky I guess. I found it one day when I was an angry kid and when I came in here, there was this perfectly soft patch of sand that hadn’t been touched by the tide. I came in here, sat down and cried for hours.” 

“What happened?” 

He looked down at her. It was a much smaller space now that he was large and there were two of them, but somehow there was still enough space for the two of them to move comfortably around each other. He was grateful for that seeing as she hardly touched him more than a high five or a handshake now and then. 

He’d thought something had happened to her, but he noticed that Eve did it as well; he’d asked her about it one day and she’d shrugged. “Most Muslims don’t. When my dad used to come to Parent-Teacher meetings he would never shake a female teacher’s hand. It’s sort of respectful - you don’t touch anyone who’s family you aren’t.” 

It hadn’t explained everything to him, but at least it wasn’t what he’d thought it was. 

Naima was far less practising, in her own words, but even still he’d noticed that she didn’t do more than a quick hug - but only when she was incredibly happy or comfortable. She’d hugged him twice. 

Naima looked up to him, catching him in his thoughts. He smiled and laid his back against one of the smoother sides of the cave wall. 

“It probably hasn’t escaped your eagle eyes that my dad isn’t seen around the Rez.” 

“I wondered - but I figured it wasn’t my business. Especially when you’ve been so helpful.” 

“Yeah well, he used to be. Before I turned twelve, my dad was always there. He wasn’t the best dad but you could see that he tried hard with me and my mom. It didn’t matter so much because my grandpa was always there. He sort of picked up the pieces my dad didn’t, so between him and my mom I was never left wanting for affection, love - or the occasional disciplining.” 

Naima grinned and he joined her, remembering all the times he and Paul would get into trouble and the stern talkings to, the cleaning of fishing equipment and the manual labour his grandpa would serve them. 

“One day, my dad just disappeared. No note, no money taken - just his clothes. They’d been fighting. I knew that, but mom and dad were careful to make sure I didn’t overhear the bad ones. But still, I would listen in at the stairs or the door because I hated not knowing.”

Naima nodded. He felt her do it more than saw her but it let him continue. It was harder than it should have been, baring himself like that, especially because it was so difficult not to bare himself to his pack. 

“The last thing they fought about was how my dad had found out she was cheating.” That had thrown him. For years he’d built up his mother into an untouchable figure; she had been so thoroughly a housewife though and though and it had been easy to see that she loved it. But hearing that hadn’t meshed with the image in his head. He wasn’t able to come to terms with it for a while after that either. 

It wasn’t until one drunken night, before she had died, that she had told him everything. The whos, the what’s and more importantly, the why’s. 

“My dad had been cheating for months - maybe even a couple of years. It was like they just couldn’t find whatever they needed with each other and the both of them knew it. But I never thought dad would just leave.

“When my dad left, a switch flipped in my grandad. He became closed off - more punishing when I was around. I figured he was just angry, just sad about my dad leaving. Hell, I was too! But he...it was like he became meaner.”

Sam let out a sigh and halfway through his breath caught. It made it sound like a sob, just out of synch as it bounced around the cave walls. 

“You don’t have to tell me,” Naima said softly. 

But he did, he realised. Now he couldn’t stop. “One day he stormed into the house. I was sick - supposed to be at school. He was yelling about something, I couldn’t hear it properly. So I got out of bed and opened my door just enough to hear what they were saying. He yelled at my mom - he said he wouldn’t support a two-bit whore anymore and then told her she was the reason my dad had left. I’d never seen my mom so upset before. Never.” 

Another breath bounced against the walls of the cave and Sam felt his fingers clench in the sand. There were tiny bits of stone in the grains and he could feel them pressing against his knuckles. 

The air felt heavy and as the waves rolled over the walls again and again; Sam felt a little bit like he was suffocating. He’d thought he’d come to terms with it. He’d thought enough years had passed that it didn’t hurt as much anymore. But there he was, sitting in almost exactly the same place as he had at eighteen and he couldn’t stop the roll of sadness and anger from brushing up against his stomach. 

He heard Naima shift. For a moment he wondered if he should be telling her all of this; it wasn’t a comfortable conversation to have with someone, and he and Naima weren’t all that close as friends. Not yet. Was he sharing too much? Did she want to hear it? 

Then he felt her hand next to his. 

It was just the side of her pinky finger resting up against his fist, but the contact was deliberate and Sam couldn’t help but take that to mean that she was telling him it was alright. 

“She started to wither. That’s the best word I can use. She waited until I was sixteen and then she started killing herself slowly. She didn’t eat, she didn’t sleep. I think it was depression but she wouldn’t let me take her to the doctors to diagnose it. She just wasted away. By graduation, she was dead.” 

He finished speaking and she was quiet. They both were. 

But her hand never left the side of his. 

Sam wondered what she was thinking, what was going through her head. And it was easier to imagine what was going on in her mind than consider what was still roiling around in his. 

When she finally spoke it was blunt. “Your grandad is a prick.” 

Sam laughed because it was such a _Naima_ thing to say. And the tension and anger all but evaporated. 

“He is,” Sam said. 

“And I’m sorry for your loss,” Naima replied.

“Thanks.” 

She was quiet for a moment longer and Sam wondered if he should just ask her - get it over and done with. But something held him back - Instinct told him that she was stronger than that, that she _wanted_ to talk - to tell him something dark, something deep. 

“I think I hate my dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, the song is not from 2005 but I was listening as I wrote it and I couldn't help but feel the feels for this chapter. So I added it in. It won't be a common occurrence on this fic, don't worry. I'm actually going to upload the next chapter on Thursday because it's a wee tiddly thing - even compared to my smaller chapters - and then it'll be back to the usual update schedule.


	9. a howling,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naima muses about her confession in the cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The baby chapter is here; it's thinking and learning and stretching just like an actual baby ;) 
> 
> Tangentially, I finished (won?) NaNo yesterday and am especially excited about it because the fic was an HP one I'm hoping to post in January when I have a few more chapters down. I named it Project: Horcrux and while I doubt that'll be the name of the actual fic, it's a fun little glimpse into what its about :D
> 
> To anyone who's doing NaNo this year, I hope it's going well. Remember you've done a lot just by dedicating yourself to a commitment, no matter how far in it you've gotten. That's something to be proud of.

* * *

**NINE**

**a howling,**

* * *

Naima sat at her laptop, Word open and a blank page in front of her where the beginnings of  _ something _ should have been. But instead of writing anything down, she was contemplating her life. Sometimes that was useful. Today it was not.

She had managed to put the thoughts off for a few days but as she stared at her blank document, everything rushed to the surface. She almost rolled her eyes at her inability to ignore uncomfortable situations, but there was no point.

She’d never been able to let things lie for long and that wasn’t going to change just because she’d crossed an ocean.

Naima sighed but pushed herself back from the laptop. She wasn’t sure what had come over her that day. Those words - the ones she’d whispered to Sam whilst they’d sat in the cave - that had been the first time Naima had ever uttered them out loud. 

She swallowed, trying to press down the guilt that those thoughts were even in her head. She did love her dad. And she’d not known that you could feel hate and love for the same person until she’d sat there in the cave thinking about it.

Logically she knew it could happen. People could feel more than one strong, conflicting, emotion at the same time – and they did every day. But the ambivalence was difficult to describe and even harder to understand.

She loved her dad, but she couldn’t deny that there were also such strong feelings of disappointment and anger that it translated so well into hate. 

So, maybe it wasn’t hate?

The cave had been cold - just a bit colder than she was - but that hadn’t mattered because Sam had exuded so much heat that she felt warm. Safe. And in retrospect, maybe that was why she had told him. 

She hadn’t felt warm or safe in such a long time and so she’d let herself go. And then he had started speaking about his grandad. She watched him as he spoke, and thought that Sam seemed very much trapped in the story he was telling. He had truly felt hurt and betrayal and something about it caught in her throat. And then he’d stopped speaking. 

There was a moment when the only thing she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her chest and in her temple, the sound of their breathing, the waves rolling off the sides - or maybe the back - of the cave and the wind blowing just outside and it had overwhelmed her.

It was too loud and yet too quiet.

Something about the combination and his warmth just broke her down and she had to say it - say something. Naima hadn’t expected for those words to come out, but they had. 

He hadn’t said anything in response. Looking back, that wasn’t so surprising but it had forced her to choose whether she wanted to elaborate or stay in the unsilent silence. 

She didn’t look up, but she suspected he was looking at her. Not directly because somehow, he knew that would have been too confronting, but maybe from the corner of his eye. Like he was watching over her. 

She appreciated it in the same way that she hated how he affected her. His own silent expectation had filtered through her wariness and suddenly, it held so much over her in only a few short months. 

Naima didn’t know herself to be a particularly open person; most of her time at school had been spent alone because she wasn’t able to deal with the pettiness or the bitchiness of girls and before she had taken off her scarf there had been no point in making friends with boys. She actually hadn’t known how. 

So, when she found herself laughing along with Sam’s jokes or not feeling odd or uncomfortable being with him in his truck as they went to pick up supplies or find a piece of furniture, it was odd but pleasant.

She had felt like she could just be herself around him rather than a big sister, or a perfect daughter, or a grieving and delicate girl. 

It was easy. 

But somewhere along the way, without her knowing, that comfortable friendship had slid into something more. She felt an intimacy with Sam that she hadn’t experienced with anyone else. 

_ But it wasn’t romantic _ . That much she knew for sure. It was something else and the only thing she could compare it to was when her mum was alive. 

The relationship they’d had had always been one others were jealous of; her mother was her confidant, her friend and more than that, she had given Naima space to explore, to get things wrong, to question. It was starkly contrasted with her dad’s modus operandi and so it was appreciated all the more. 

That feeling that had come over her that day with Sam had felt like that. 

_ Trust _ . 

The word came to her sluggishly but once she had it, she knew it was true. With a start, Naima realised she trusted the man and it was a jarring feeling. 

An alarm went off on her phone, breaking her out of her thoughts and signalling to Naima that her food was ready. She turned it off and went to the kitchen to take out the pizza from the oven. 

Her mouth started to water as the smell of melted cheese permeated the air and for the moment, that jarring revelation was put to the side. Her stomach grumbled and she smiled to herself. 

Just as she cut up the pizza the front door opened and Eve called out. “I’m in the kitchen,” Naima mumbled through the pizza. Eve was in the kitchen soon enough and dropped her bag down by the leg of a chair. 

“Ooh - pizza,” she said as she reached for a slice. 

Naima slapped her hand away. “Make your own.”

“But you have so much!”

“‘Cause I’m hungry!” 

Eve pouted and ended up taking a slice anyway. Naima huffed but allowed her sister to take the first, and then eventually the second slice.

There was more to think about though, she knew that. But she just…she needed to sleep on it. Let her mind do all the heavy lifting when she slept. That was what it was for, right?

For now, she needed to get some words down on the page. Harish was understanding, but there was only so much time allotted to grieving, moving girls when there were contracted books to write.

Maybe pizza wasn’t the best option then, seeing as in t-20 minutes she was going to start feeling very sleepy. Instead, she tried to combat it. Turning to Eve, she smiled. “How was your day?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you it was a baby The next one will be up on Sunday and it's 3.3k...inspo struck I suppose. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter and I'll see you all on Sunday!


	10. a hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve has a bit of a religious existential crisis and Naima is having none of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday! So...I promised that this chapter would be 3.2k but...I was talking about the wrong chapter. I sort of miss-counted. Very sorry about that! BUT this chapter is longer than most and it is the next chapter that's 3.2 I promise. 
> 
> Enjoy

* * *

**TEN**

**a hunger**

* * *

It was the weekend. The first weekend Eve had off for _ages_ \- ok, that was a bit of an exaggeration - but it was the first weekend she hadn’t had to study stupid Maths or help her dad with something or paint one of the walls. Colin and Brady were ‘mysteriously’ off sick this weekend as well, so she was all by her lonesome. But Eve was going to enjoy her weekend off.

She was going to sit on her bed all day and just watch movies on some suspicious streaming site that would probably give her crappy laptop a virus, but it needed to be replaced soon anyways. And when she got hungry, she’d eat beans on toast and then get right back into bed. 

Except there were no films that she wanted to watch and there wasn’t any shopping because she had conveniently forgotten to get some. So, she was twiddling her thumbs - metaphorically speaking - until Naima walked into her room and asked her if she wanted to go with her to pick up the last bits she’d ordered for their rooms. 

Not the ideal way to spend her time but there was always Sunday. And if she went with Naima now, she would be able to convince her sister to help with the shopping as well. Those bags got heavy sometimes. 

So, she got out of her bed, changed into something that was arguably still pyjama-like and walked downstairs and in the car. 

They hadn't been driving for very long when Naima began a conversation. It was mundane and sort of boring, but Eve felt a little bit better after speaking to her. Something about the routine boringness of the questions coupled with the fact that someone was taking an interest in her life made her feel comforted. 

Eventually, the conversation turned to her newfound friends. "How's school actually going? Is the maths tutor helping?" Naima asked. 

Eve shrugged. Maths was definitely not her strong suit and she went to the tutoring sessions but it was always difficult to concentrate. She had to relearn a whole way of doing mental maths and more often than not, her brain just checked out. But otherwise, everything was going far more smoothly than she’d anticipated. 

“Far more bearable now that I have some friends,” Eve responded. 

"The twins?" 

Eve hummed. "They're complete idiots but it's nice to be around people who don't take what I say to heart. They dish out as much as I give them." 

Naima smiled. "They get your humour then." 

"Yep. It's weird though," Eve tapped at the door handle in thought. "They're off a lot. Keep saying they're getting sick but...I don't know." 

"Hold on," Naima ordered. Eve watched as she turned the car into the parking lot and tried to park. It wasn't the best but who was she to judge? She couldn't even drive yet. 

They managed to get into a spot without damaging any of the other cars - which was a testament to her sister's ability to think about a hundred things at once - and got out of the car. Once they were out, Naima told her to carry on.

“It’s just weird. How many times a month are you sick?” Eve wondered. 

“Maybe they just have a sickly disposition.” 

Eve looked at Naima in a way that - if Naima were paying attention to her sister - she would clearly see the WTF gleam in her eyes and on her face. Who even was her sister? _People don’t even use that combination of words anymore._

“Stop with the book words! Normal boys don’t get sick that often. Especially when they look like _they_ do!” 

“I don't really know what to say. Maybe they’re part of a secret government organisation that turns Native Americans into the next super soldiers. La Push certainly has enough of them,” she muttered under her breath so low that Eve almost didn’t hear her. 

But she did. 

And Naima was right. 

There were brutes around La Push - and she meant that in the nicest way possible. They didn’t seem odd until you watched them lift sofas way too easily for just two people, or when they lugged five large cans of paint up stairs without breaking a sweat, or any sort of heavy breathing. Or until they guzzled down ridiculously large portions of food and were still hungry. Or if you asked them how old they were and they responded with “sixteen - almost seventeen” but looked about twenty-four.

So yeah. They were odd. And she still thought that it might be worthwhile to follow Colin and Brady incognito until she figured out what was going on with them because there was no way that they were always that sick. 

“You should write that. Turn it into a YA book and make a fortune,” Eve responded. 

“Nah, thanks. Harish is already grumbling about how long this one’s taking.” 

“Chop chop, sis.” 

“Shut up and take the trolley!” They had gotten inside the Home Depot - an underwhelming B&Q - man she missed B&Q. And oyster cards. And busses. 

They walked into the store and Eve looked around. This place was almost a second home with the number of times they'd been there. And yet somehow, she always found the light section so cool to look at. “What are we getting?” she asked. 

“My floating bookshelves came yesterday so we need to get that. And your vanity arrived today.”

“Really?” 

“Yep.” 

"Awesome!" She had always wanted a vanity but it had been too expensive and she'd shared a room with Naima so there wasn't much space.

Actually, it had been the amount of space the house had that had gotten Eve excited to live there more than anything; the first time she’d seen it had her jaw dropping and her brain unable to comprehend the fact that a whole four-bedroom house was theirs to use. There weren’t even enough people to fill the spaces! 

London had been fun and exciting; the museums and the art galleries held enough of her attention that it didn’t matter that she didn’t party. She had fun in other ways. And it was also the hub of theatre; when their mum had been alive they’d tried to go to at least one West End show a year. Somewhere along the way Eve and Naima had fallen in love with musicals.

So she hadn’t really wanted to leave London, leave her mum and the things she’d loved behind, but the amount of space had been a big selling point in favour of America. There was no way they could have afforded a house like the one they lived in now in London. Not on her dad’s salary. 

Now, with her own room, she'd been able to decorate it however she had wanted - within budget - and she'd gone with a retro-rustic feel. 

The vanity had been the final touch. And something she'd never told anyone was that it made her feel slightly more girly when she thought of having that little space to get ready. 

They went to the collection post and Naima gave their names. Eve all but deflated when the man told them they'd have to wait ten minutes for the order to come from the back. 

"I'm gonna go to the light section then. I'll see you in 10." 

"Ok." 

Eve walked the now familiar path to the lights when she got there she felt stupid for a moment - feeling so happy and awed at the carefully placed selection of chandeliers and lamps was silly - but they were entrancing and the glow they gave off was warm and calming. 

Maybe something about it reminded her of looking out of the balcony window in their old flat and seeing the ever constant and too bright lights of central London in the distance. 

Maybe they were just pretty. 

Either way, Eve spent a little bit more than ten minutes just browsing through the section, lost in thought. But when she rushed back, she caught her sister and the hulking figure of Sam hugging and it threw off the ease she'd had a moment before. 

********

That evening when they were all home and eating dinner together, the hug was still weighing on Eve’s mind. She honestly wasn’t sure why; she was trying very hard to not be a judgy bitch - well at least not around her family. Anyone else was fair game - but it was really _really_ bugging her. It was just a hug. It wasn’t like they’d kissed or were having sex! And Eve knew that they’d become friends. Somehow it had happened under her nose, but she wasn’t mad. Naima spent so much of her time cooped up in the house decorating it, or fixing it, or writing. She needed someone to talk to and as much as she wished that she could be that person for her sister, Eve knew that Naima saw her as too young to deal with things outside of her own life. 

“Hey, Dad?” Naima broke Eve out of her thoughts. “I was thinking - now that the house is done - we should invite the neighbours around as a way to get to know them.”

Their dad thought for a moment. Eve could see it ticking over in his mind and she wondered how the conversation would weigh up. Was it better to stay reclusive and possibly alienate themselves within the community, or would he buck up and host something for the first time since...

“Maybe that’s a good idea,” he finally said. 

Eve looked at Naima expecting her to be happy but instead, she was biting her lip, looking nervous about something else. 

“I was also thinking we should invite the guys that helped me - us - move things around and decorate.” 

“Why?” 

“A lot of them did it just to help out. Some of them were from Sam Uley’s company but he rarely took money, and if he did, it was way less than you would usually have to pay.” It was all said in a rush - possibly in one breath - but Eve hadn’t been counting. But Naima still didn’t look like she had finished talking. “I just wanted to thank them for helping.”

Their dad hummed. “Can’t they come with the neighbours?”

“They eat a lot. Like uncle Noah but more.” 

Her dad choked on the food in his mouth. “Why do they need to eat so much?”

It was the first time Eve had heard their dad shocked in a while. And if she hadn’t seen the boys eat then she would have thought Naima was just playing him for a loop. 

“I don’t know. Maybe because they have such physical jobs?” Was that a tinge of sarcasm Eve heard in that answer? She couldn’t be sure because Naima seemed like she was being very polite. 

“I guess we can. If they were being so kind…”

Eve sat back looking at the two of them. Naima was smiling now and their dad looked a little put out. Like he really didn’t want to have to host two separate dinners but he couldn’t not acknowledge people who had made the house look so good. 

“Great!” 

“When will this happen?” Eve finally asked. 

“Maybe in a couple of weeks?” 

“Sure. Let me know when. Keep it to a Friday or weekends,” their dad said. 

They finished their meal - talking to each other when they felt the need to but never anything substantial. Eve noticed that Naima was happier now; there was a little smile on the corner of her face as she stared off into the distance. 

Something about the smile had made Eve feel uncomfortable and she used the moments of silence to try and figure it out. But by the time they had washed up, she still couldn’t pinpoint it. 

She figured it had something to do with what she’d seen earlier. 

The hug had been brief, it couldn’t have been more than a couple of seconds at most, but it had rattled her.

As far as Eve knew, Naima hadn’t had any boyfriends, and ok one hug didn’t mean she was dating Sam. _But still_! It was a step closer to something she didn’t know what to do with. And she hated not knowing things! 

Eve waited until they were both upstairs away from the ears of their dad. She followed Naima into her room waiting on the threshold of it and trying to prepare herself for the conversation. 

“Everything alright?” Naima asked, getting her laptop out and moving to her bed. 

Eve stayed awkwardly standing next to the door, still unsure about how to broach the subject. Well, Naima hated lying didn’t she? So maybe honesty was the best policy. And Eve had never been very good at subtlety.

“Is there something going on with you and Sam?” 

She didn’t even look up when she answered Eve - which honestly made her feel a bit stupid. “Not really.” 

“But you two were hugging at the store. And what does ‘not really’ mean? Aren’t you either one or the other?” 

Naima looked up from her laptop. She tilted her head and frowned. “We’re friends. And so what if I hugged him?” 

So what? Well...it wasn't just a casual thing that she'd hugged the man. And there was such a big age gap between the two of them. Wasn't it odd that Sam was hanging around Naima? 

"I think he's weird. Why would he hang out with a twenty-year old all the time?" 

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" 

She had. He hadn’t told her anything substantial and it had made her even more uneasy about whatever was going on. “I’m being serious,” she said. 

“So am I.”

“Naima!” 

“What?” 

“I just don’t think it's a good idea to get involved with anyone.” 

“Why?” 

Eve frowned. 

“I’m not saying I am,” Naima continued. “But why are you so upset about it?” 

She racked her brain for what to say to explain what she was feeling but she couldn’t. Instead what came out of her mouth was stupid and not where she wanted to take the conversation _at all_. “It's haram.” 

Naima narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “I’m a big girl - _mukallaf_ even. If I wanted to date then I would. Knowing the consequences.” She shut her laptop cover down and got off the bed. “Frankly I’m insulted. And you’re starting to sound like dad. I get enough of that so I think you should leave now.” 

Shit. She hadn’t wanted it to go that way. “That’s not what I meant.” 

“Maybe, but you said it. And I’m tired now.”

Oh man. Why had she said that? Eve bit her lip and left the room feeling so, _so_ , stupid. Seriously. She needed to figure out what was going on with her. 

When she got to her room she hopped on the bed and sighed, slapping her forehead hard. 

_Way to go Evie. Way to go._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible new words of the day:  
> Mukallaf - someone who is accountable for their actions (their actions are being judged) and therefore, in Islam, they are considered to be 'adults' the same way in the law, at 18 you become 'an adult' and can be trialled as one. A man becomes mukallaf either: a) after he has had his first wet dream or, b) turns 15. A woman becomes mukallaf either: a) has her first period, b) turns 15, or c) sees sperm (has sex). You must have received the message of Islam in some way, and be free and sound of mind to be mukallaf. 
> 
> Haram - opposite of halal, i.e it is forbidden by God unless under very specific circumstances.  
> \-----------------------------
> 
> That was a long one. What did you think about this chapter? I confess writing these bits always makes me nervous because there's so much Islamaphobia in the news that people hate it without knowing anything about it. And this was a big part of why I wrote HI; it's easier to take something in in a fictional way. But for this chapter I would especially like to hear your thoughts. If you don't understand Eve's thoughts or reasonings for acting that way please ask.


	11. and thirst.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All things considered, lunch goes surprisingly well. But Sam doesn't understand how Monopoly is retribution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 3.2k beast is here! Only its now 3.4k...oops. Hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> By the way, I honestly didn't know that tic-tac-toe was the American name for Noughts and Crosses. I had to ask a friend of mine and she didn't know what I was talking about until I drew a picture of the game. Why is it called tic-tac-to in America? Or is that a regional thing?

* * *

**ELEVEN**

**and thirst.**

* * *

Sam watched from the sides as Naima interacted with his Pack. 

The sun was streaming through the open windows and a soft breeze came through them as was normal for the beginning of June. She couldn’t have chosen a better day for lunch for them all.

The invitation had been almost unexpected, although he wasn’t sure why. If he and his Tribe grew up on the values of reciprocation, then why wouldn’t she and her family have done the same thing. The concept seemed to make sense in all cultures except those of the Hoquaht. Their culture seemed to value something else.

But when she had come to him with a grin that couldn’t be described as anything other than cheeky, he had happily accepted on behalf of his Pack. 

They were all happy to accept free food at the least. And now, here they all were. 

For a moment, bitterness flooded through him as he looked at the seven of them going strong. All boys forced to deal with something too old for them to be ready for. Yet time and time again they dealt with it better than Sam had at the start. He was proud of them all for it. 

And there she was, fitting in with them all evening. She chatted with Paul and Jared - arguing about the differences in proper English and quite frankly, Sam was sure that she was winning even if his Second and Third would never admit it to her. She fluttered about Quil, making sure to let them know that he could eat as much food as he wanted because how else was she going to pay them back for helping her move that deceivingly heavy chest of drawers that she’d found in the thrift store - only she’d called it a second-hand shop and Quil had grinned at her accent. 

She’d tried to interact with Jacob, but he was being pissy about the Swan girl choosing the Leech over him. Sam gave him a low and threatening growl when he’d snapped at her and the pup had apologised. 

Naima took it in stride, but he noticed that she didn’t approach him as much throughout the rest of the evening. Sam would have made Jacob apologise a second time, but the wolf stirred. Naima could deal with herself; there was no need to fight that battle for her. 

With a great deal of interest, Sam noted that she kept herself away from Eve. It was almost difficult to see, what with her apparent duties as a hostess. She filled them well. But it was in the way that she would hand something to someone else to pass to her sister, or the way she didn’t laugh as hard as she usually did at the teen’s dry humor. And it was definitely in the way that she would ask her dad to help her with things. 

Sam had only seen her interact with her father - Aaron as he had learnt - a handful of times but he knew that there was more strain between them than Naima was maybe willing to acknowledge. 

That was not his business in any capacity, but it was interesting. He could probe later though. Naima had a moment to herself in their little kitchen island. She was putting some of the chicken wings back into the oven so that they would stay warm and he hadn’t really spoken to her much. 

Sam lifted himself off the wall he’d been standing against and walked over to Naima. She smiled when she saw him approaching. 

“Sam!” she cried out. She walked around the island and grinned up at him. But he noticed that she kept herself a little further away than she would normally. “Are you enjoying yourself? Is there enough food or do the Eternally Starving still need to feed the bottomless pits?

He spared a quick glance around but only to assure her that he was actually checking. “I don’t know if there’s ever enough food for us,” he confessed with a grin. 

Naima bit back a laugh. “Dad didn’t believe me when I told him how much you all ate. I bet he does now.” She laughed this time. “Oh! Thanks for bringing extra, by the way.” 

She picked up a bowl of carrot sticks and offered it to him. She shrugged when he declined and dipped it into some hummus, crunching loudly. 

“We couldn’t eat you out of house and home after we’d just finished working on it,” Sam teased. 

“How generous of you,” she bit back humorously. 

When she grinned at him again, Sam saw something orange stuck between her teeth. She was mortified when he pointed it out to her. 

“Why did you have to tell me that?” she groaned, using her tongue to poke around at her teeth. 

Sam saw the little bulge of her tongue and he had the urge to capture it with his own and maybe bite it. It was a brief flash and he felt himself heating up more than he already was. 

He tempered the feeling down. 

“Would you have preferred it if I hadn’t told you about the carrot stuck in your tooth?” he asked.

She frowned and he chuckled. “Yes!” she cried out. “At least then I wouldn’t have known about it.”

“But I thought you liked honesty Naima.” 

“Ignorance is bliss,” she said flippantly

“Until Paul started teasing you about it,” he pointed out. 

She didn’t say it, but he could see how much she wanted to spit the phrase out. She’d used it enough times that he knew how her eyes flared up with annoyance. _Paul could suck a dick._ “Is it gone?” she asked instead, baring her teeth at him. 

Sam had to smile. It wasn’t lost on him that Naima was...she was something to him at the very least. And there she was, all but growling and baring her teeth at the werewolf without knowing. 

He wondered if she would care. 

“Are you about to - it’s still in my tooth isn’t it?” She didn’t wait for him to tell her the answer. Naima just turned and walked towards the stairway. 

Sam laughed as the extra pressure she was exerting through her fluffy socks made it sound to him like she was stomping up the stairs. Obviously, only the pack could hear it, and in turn, most of them bit back a grin. 

When she was out of sight, Sam’s eyes roamed his Pack again. As they swept over the large bodies once more, they fell on her father - Aaron. 

Sam wondered if he would have picked up on the slight tension the man was exuding if it wasn’t for shifting. Because as his eyes brushed over the older man’s, that part that noticed danger alerted him to the stiffness of his shoulders, the slight clenching of his jaw.

It was minuscule but it made Sam pause. His eyes flickered to his Second and Third to see if they had noticed and sure enough, Jared was watching the two of them. His weight was on the balls of his feet in case he needed to move - to back up his Alpha.

Then Naima came back down and walked straight back to the little island she’d been standing at before. 

“That was uncalled for, Uley.” 

“Maybe.” 

“I think there needs to be some retribution,” she said with a straight face. 

“And what do you propose?” 

“Monopoly.” 

Eve groaned from where she was standing. “No. No way.” 

“Monopoly?” Colin asked. “Why would that be retribution?” 

“You’ve never played Monopoly the way they have. Dad and Naima are ruthless with it - you’d think it was real life.” 

Was Sam imagining the tears growing in the corner of Eve’s eyes? He had to be, right? There was no way that the game was that big of a deal. 

“It will take too long,” Aaron said. 

“Not if we do it with the speed die,” Naima responded back just as quickly. 

“There aren’t enough pieces.” 

“We can double up,” she said. When he still didn’t look convinced, she sighed. “We can put an hour’s limit on it. Whoever has the most by the end wins.” 

“Fine,” he said after a moment's thought he smiled. It was the first time Sam had seen him smile at Naima all day. “Go and get the game.” 

“Where did you even leave it?” Eve asked. But Naima didn’t answer. She was walking up the stairs again. Eve looked around and ever so slightly shook her head. “I’m playing with one of you two,” she said to the twins.

“You don’t want to play with Naima?” Brady asked. 

“Oh my god, no!” she rushed out in one short breath. “I hate playing Monopoly at the best of times, but when Dad and Naima are playing it’s horrible.” 

“Eve help me clear the table,” Aaron called. 

Eve sighed. 

“Do you want some help?” Colin asked. 

“Yes.” 

Sam looked at the others and he was glad that they looked just as confused as he felt. But he went to help them move the glasses and the bowls off the large wooden table. He wondered if it would be too low for them to play on but when Eve started taking cushions off the couch and placing them on the floor, he understood. 

Naima came down a moment later with a box that looked like it had seen better days. “Has everyone partnered up?” she asked. 

“There’s an odd number,” Eve pointed out. “I don’t mind letting someone else play.” 

Jacob - who had barely said a word the whole evening - stood up. “I have to go now anyway. My dad needs help with something.” He stood up and brushed himself down. 

“Thank you for having me at your house Mr Wright.” Then, with just a glance at Naima, he muttered, “the food was great. Thanks.” 

Sam narrowed his eyes. What was going on with Jacob? Was he going to have to have a word with him? 

“Not a problem,” Aaron said. He shook Jacob’s hand and walked him to the door. Sam took a seat in the empty space which was across from Naima.

“Who’s pairing up?” she asked as she began to take out the cards. The names on them weren’t the ones he was used to: From Pall Mall to Angel Islington, most of the cards were ridiculously unfamiliar to him. But he did recognise Oxford Circus and Trafalgar Square. Kings Cross Station rang a bell, but he couldn’t remember why. 

“I’m gonna be with Colin,” Eve called out. 

“The betrayal!” Brady cried. 

“You’re too competitive for me right now. This is not the time to be invested in winning!” 

“Alright, fine! I’ll be with Paul then. We can kick their asses!” Brady said. 

Paul raised a brow, but he was grinning. “You got that right.” 

Naima, still sorting out the money, called out to Quil. “How good are you at keeping a level head?” 

“Uhh, pretty good I guess,” he said. “Why?” 

She looked up with a small smile. “Because I think Sam is going to need some help when he fails miserably.” 

Quil laughed. “Alright - well I can try and help with that.” 

Eve looked up horrified. “Are you partnering up with dad?” 

“No. We’ll just play separately.” As she said that, Aaron walked back in and took his original seat. 

“Do we have a banker?” he asked.

“Paul’s pretty good at Maths from what I’ve heard. He can do it.” 

“Alright. Everyone should choose their pieces and then we should start.” 

The game was nothing like Sam imagined it would be. It had started off fairly typically but once the first few properties had been bought, it was like a switch had flicked between Naima and her dad. 

They began to bargain with the table - almost aggressively. And he had never heard trades used quite the same way. Paul and Brady had asked Naima for her last orange card and she’d struck a deal with them that he’d never thought of before. 

“I’ll give you the card for £320, but the first three times I land on any of the properties I don’t have to pay you anything once there are houses on it.” 

They had agreed - obviously - but Sam was looking at the time. There were only about 30 minutes left and he wasn’t sure how much luck those two would have. 

At some point, Sam had looked at the board and noticed that Aaron had commandeered almost the whole of the cheapest side and then it seemed like the next time he’d looked, he was selling Naima the last card she needed to have control over a corner. 

He wasn’t even sure how that had happened. 

“Thank you, Sam,” she said sweetly. “Paul? I’d like to buy five houses please.” 

“Shit,” Colin muttered. “How does she have that much money?” 

Eve frowned. “We got bankrupted by her, idiot!” 

“Yeah but that was like ten minutes ago - and we didn’t have that much left anyway.” 

Then there were only ten minutes left of the game and it was only Naima, her dad and somehow, he was still in the game with Quil. They weren’t doing so well though, considering they were coming up to Naima’s corner. 

She had a smug grin on her face as she handed Sam the dice. “Wouldn’t want you to put your demise on Quil, would we?” she asked. 

Sam smirked back at her and took the dice. “We’ll see about that,” he said. He heard her heart jump with a little tha-thump and he wondered what that was about. It didn’t look like it had fazed her though; she was now daring him to roll with the gleam in her brown eyes. 

He tried to break eye contact as he rolled but it was surprisingly difficult. The challenge in her eyes was too much fun to not fall into and he had a feeling that she liked doing it as well. Naima seemed to have so much more fun with people when she was able to challenge them. 

She’d played devil’s advocate far too many times around him for it to not be the case. 

But he did break eye contact. And he did roll the dice. 

Sam heard Quil groan and Naima’s smile only got bigger while she waited for him to move his piece the five squares until he landed directly on the only estate with a hotel on it. 

“I do believe that you’re bankrupt Uley. Time to pay up.” 

Sam handed over all the money they had, and she took it from him with a grin. 

“I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did,” Eve said from the sofa. She’d moved onto it when she’d been bankrupted, and Colin was sitting on the other side of it. From the sketchpad in her hand, Sam could see that she’d been playing tic tac toe with Colin for a considerable amount of time. 

“They played it safe,” Naima said. “Easiest way to play Monopoly.” 

“Maybe, but we stayed in for the long haul,” Quil said cheekily. He yawned and looked at the clock. “Dude it’s past eight. Mom is gonna be wondering where I am,” he said. 

“Really?” Brady asked. “Damn. We need to get home. We’ve got work early tomorrow don’t we?” he asked his twin. 

Collin nodded. “First shift.” 

“I thought Jacob had it,” Paul said from his spot. 

“No, he asked to swap yesterday. Didn’t he clear it by you?” Brady asked. 

“No, he didn’t.” 

Jared shot Sam a look and Sam nodded. It seemed he was going to be having a talk with Jacob about shirking responsibility if nothing else. 

“You boys work?” Aaron asked. 

“Uh, yeah. Just on the weekends. But we sort of help out with stuff on the Rez,” Colin said. 

Aaron looked impressed. “It’s good to help the community,” he said. 

“Yeah. That’s what we think too,” Colin responded. 

He looked a little bit uncomfortable, so Jared took pity on him. “Come on. I’ll drop you home before your folks get worried.” 

Collin thanked him and jumped up. Brady got up and followed his twin. They waved goodbye to Eve, thanked Naima and shook Aaron’s hand before they left. 

“It’s Maghrib girls. It’s time to pray,” Aaron said as he turned to them both. 

Eve hummed and jumped off the couch, ready to go, but Sam saw Naima tense. She looked like she wanted to argue with Aaron but he was staring firmly down at her. Naima’s eyes flickered to his and then she gritted her teeth and followed Eve up the stairs. 

Sam heard two doors open. One seemed to be in the bathroom considering a moment later he heard the tap turn on and water rushing into the sink. The second door though, seemed to be to a bedroom. Naima’s bedroom, or so he guessed based on the lack of noise that could only come from the large grey fluffy rug she’d insisted on trying to carry into her room herself. 

Sam only then realised that he was left with Aaron by himself. He wondered what the man would do. 

“Thank you for having us over, sir. I know there’s a lot of us.” 

Aaron hummed. “Yes, there are. But my daughter insisted on it.” 

Sam noted the way Aaron had claimed Naima and he could feel that wolf-part of him shift in annoyance. She wasn’t anyone’s to claim. Sam knew that the annoyance stemmed more from the fact that Naima herself would hate the idea that she was being held under someone’s thumb. 

There was no way Sam could respond to that without being rude in some way or another. Either he would blurt out the thoughts he had, or the growing annoyance would leak through into his mannerisms and tone. So he stayed silent. 

“Those boys - they work for you?” 

“The twins? Sometimes when they need some extra cash for something. I try to help them out when I can.” 

“How old are you?” 

“Twenty-four,” Sam replied steadfastly. He knew where this was going. 

“And what is it you have them doing?” Aaron asked, 

Sam looked at him carefully. The moment from earlier filling up his mind; he didn’t think it was going to come to a physical altercation but even if it did, he wasn’t sure he could pretend to give. Not for this man. “I help run a construction company,” he began smoothly. “The boys sometimes help me with the manual labor when I’m men down.” 

Aaron hummed. “I’ve heard interesting things about you boys,” he said. 

“I’m sure you have,” he was quick to retort. “Small towns often keep themselves busy. I’ve heard interesting things about Naima. And Eve. And you. But I tend not to judge people until I’ve gotten the chance to meet them, sir,” he said. 

Aaron’s nostrils flared and Sam saw his hand twitch. Whether it was to clench his fist or for another reason he wasn’t sure. “I would watch yourself there Sam,” he said. “Reputation is currency to communities.” 

“I suppose it is.” 

Before he could say anything more, Naima came down the stairs quickly. She looked between Sam and Aaron. Her eyes were open wider than they normally were, and her brow looked pinched. 

“Hey - thank you for helping to clean. I can do the rest though,” she said in a rush. 

“Are you sure?” he asked. “We left a lot of mess.” 

“I’m sure.” She smiled at him. 

Sam glanced back at Aaron. “It was nice to meet you sir, thank you for having us.” Sam didn’t offer his hand out but then, Aaron didn’t make a move to offer his out either. 

Naima walked him to the door once he’d picked up his coat. It never hurt to keep up appearances, considering it was pretty cold out. 

“Did he say anything to you?” Naima asked as he exited the house. 

Sam smiled. “Nothing odd.” 

She didn’t look like she believed him, but she didn’t argue against the statement. Naima still looked worried and Sam wanted to know why, “Do you want to meet me at the beach tomorrow?” 

“I can’t tomorrow - I need to get some work done. Wednesday?”

“What are you doing for a whole three days Naima?” he asked teasingly. 

She smiled. “Oh, you know, this and that.” 

Sam smiled back. “Alright then. Wednesday it is.” 

“Alright - I’ll text you. Thank you for coming, Sam.”

“Thank you for having us.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible new words:  
> Hoquaht - not an Arabic word. This is, as far as I can tell from internet research, a Quileute word meaning 'white-Non Indian' which as far as I understand is like saying White Man. It's spelt phonetically but I can't figure out how to to it properly on my laptop which...I'm not super happy with. 
> 
> Maghrib - the 4th out of the 5 daily prayers. This one is prayed around sunset and is possibly known in connection to Ramadan as it marks the end of the fasting day.  
> \------------------------------------------------
> 
> Many many thanks to my Beta for this chapter. There were some cowboys in there that's for sure. How did you like the chapter? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it :)


	12. Blessed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice cream isn't supposed to have strings attached to it. Not like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEPP!! I am very excited for this chapter. It's...it's a thing. This chapter is very much a thing.

* * *

**TWELVE**

**Blessed**

* * *

Eve was enjoying her ice cream. She had a sinking suspicion that she looked even more like a child than she already did as she was licking the bubblegum flavoured scoop on its waffle cone but she couldn’t care less. She was enjoying the overwhelmingly artificial flavour that the Americans had somehow made just shy of being too sweet to handle. 

And the beach was gorgeous. She would need to come out here with her camera sometime soon; she was sure that the light of sunset or maybe even dawn would hit the waves just right and make a breathtaking picture. 

She could imagine it now: there would be clouds - there were always clouds in La Push - but these clouds would ghost along the skyline because it was summer and they were allowed some respite from the rainforest. The sun would place itself in that odd spot where you weren’t sure what direction it was going in. But it would peek out behind the clouds and the light would colour purple, hints of dark blue, orange and some pink. 

If the tide was in, and it would be, then those lights would transpose onto the gently rolling waves and maybe there would be a shadow in the corner; a large dead branch that had collected just the right amount of seaweed on its bark to make the texture stand out against everything else. 

Maybe if she did it just right then you would be able to smell the salt air and feel the sea breeze when you looked at the picture.

“Evie?” 

Eve turned to look at her dad, just a little bit annoyed that he had broken her out of her daydream. But it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t like he could see inside her brain and he had been the one to get her the ice-cream and bring her here. 

She hummed. 

“Do you like it here?” he asked. 

She was a little bit surprised. The question had come out of nowhere. But then again, maybe it hadn’t. Their dad had been affected more so than any of them when their mum had died. 

“I think it’s growing on me,” she said. “I really hate how they do school, but the work is somehow easier than I thought it would be - other than maths. And pop quizzes.” She shuddered and her dad laughed. “But I’m...having fun.” 

And she was. Other than constantly wondering where the twins were - but that didn’t matter so much now that they were off for the summer - she was enjoying spending time with them. And there were a few girls from school that she had made friends with too, just by pure coincidence and First Heritage having a very dedicated seating arrangement in the lunch hall. She sat with Connie and Sonia when the twins disappeared. 

“I’m glad. You’ve seemed happier,” he said. “And that’s good for you. After your mum...died I was worried about you. I didn’t know if you would bounce back.” 

“Yeah,” she said quietly. She took a small lick of the ice cream but it didn’t taste as good as it had before. The wind blew and she smelt smoke from somewhere on the Reservation. Someone was having a BBQ, or maybe just burning something. It was a smell that reminded her of family summers and camping. It was comforting and bittersweet. 

“But you seem to be adjusting to everything.” He was quiet for a moment. Eve waited for him to continue because she knew this mood. It had been a frequent thing over the last few months and there was nothing she could really say to him. She just had to listen. 

“I’m proud of you,” he said. “But I keep wondering if this move was a good idea,” he said. “I thought it was the best thing to do at the time, but now I’m not so sure.” 

“Why?” Eve asked, but she wasn’t sure what ‘why’ she was asking. 

Was he going to move them back? Eve wasn’t sure she could handle another move so soon and she didn’t think that Naima could either. Not after putting so much into the house. 

“Has Naima said anything to you? Have you noticed her acting strangely?” he asked. 

The sudden change in topic was difficult to wrap her head around. “What?” 

“I’m worried about her. She keeps hanging around that boy.” 

What boy? Was he talking about Sam? Because Sam was pretty far off from being a boy. Eve had never seen her dad and Sam standing side by side, but she was pretty sure that Sam was just slightly taller. And the man had his own company so no, she wasn’t sure that he was a boy.

“Uh,” she trailed off. “Yeah. They’ve become friends.” 

“Just friends?” he asked. 

Eve felt her stomach churning a little bit. Suddenly the ice cream was too sweet and the artificial flavour was coating her tongue in a way that made it feel bitter and spongy. 

“Yeah.” 

He hummed, and she recognised the tone again. This hum was the I-don’t-quite-believe-you hum. She’d heard it most when she wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t go to school, but it had mostly been directed at Naima. 

She didn’t like hearing it. 

Was that what she had sounded like to Naima? All judgement and righteous indignation? Eve hadn’t even known that she knew that word but it felt right the moment it placed itself into her head. 

What was so wrong with Naima liking someone?

“Why - why do you ask?” 

Her dad looked at her when she stammered over her words and it felt like he’d taken that as confirmation for something. “There’s something off about him - about all of them.” 

Well, that was...Eve had had similar thoughts about the twins but that didn’t mean there was something _wrong_ with them. 

“I’ve been talking to some of the residents and some of them can’t sing their praises enough but most think it’s better to stay away from them. That they’re taking drugs.”

“But that - people talk all the time. They probably talked about us!” 

They definitely talked about her! It was fine for Naima, she didn’t wear a hijab. Sometimes it was like having a giant target on her forehead saying _LOOK! I’M DIFFERENT._

Eve had gotten more than a few stares when she’d started school and every time she went shopping with Naima it felt like there were eyes glaring into her skull. People didn’t know what to do with differences and Americans were more overt about it. 

She had been scared to move to America. Nothing good seemed to come to Black people or Muslims, nevermind Black Muslim girls! 

But she had learnt to deal with it, learnt to deal with the questions and the staring and the just-above-whisper comments. Because it would happen everywhere she went. And this was a part of her. 

“Which is why I let them come to the house!” he said. “But there is something wrong with them and I don’t think Naima should be getting involved with that boy - or you with the other two.” 

She didn’t want to stop being friends with Colin or Brady. They were fun, they didn’t treat her differently because of her scarf and they actually liked her specific brand of awkwardness. They were her friends. 

“I -” she didn’t know how to respond or react. “I don’t think that there’s anything bad going on dad. I like the twins, they made me feel welcome. And Sam hasn’t done anything but help.” 

Her dad looked at her. His face was smooth but she could see the disappointment and the resolution in his eyes and she tried to swallow down the knot in her throat but it wouldn’t go. 

“I don’t think his intentions are that innocent.” 

Eve knew what he was suggesting and she had to admit that there was something odd about how much Sam was around Naima - how intensely he had stared at her the first time he’d seen her. 

There was something about the two of them that made her feel weird and uncomfortable. It was like she was always intruding on something that she shouldn’t be a part of, even if it was just a shared smile. 

Everything held some sort of weight between the two. 

Eve could only imagine how much her dad must have been watching the two of them when they all came over. Because she had been watching too. 

It didn’t help Sam’s case that they looked like they were always flirting. 

_But so what?_ A small voice whispered from the back of her mind. _So what?_ _Wasn’t she allowed to be herself? Wasn’t she old enough to make her own choices in life?_

That day - their argument - came back to Eve. Wasn’t Naima right? Wasn’t she responsible for her own life now? 

“I don’t -”

“Keep an eye on Naima. Tell me what she does with the boy. She won’t listen to me but someone has to stop her from making a mistake.” He looked at Eve hard.

She wanted to say no but it felt like she was rooted to the spot. Her fuzzy tongue was too big for her mouth. The familiar feeling of guilt sat tight on her stomach and no amount of swallowing it down was doing anything for her.

Eve looked down. Her ice cream had dripped onto her jeans and she hadn’t realised. The bright pink - pink not blue like it should be - stained the dark wash. 

She nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This marks the end of the first 'arc'. The next chapters don't have a beta reader so any mistakes are going to be mine. I'm actually re-working some things in chapter 13 this week but I'll post it for Thursday if everything works. This was a shorter chapter :) 
> 
> You'll be happy to know that the next chapter is another 3.2k chapter. Maybe more. I can't remember. 
> 
> Please please please tell me what you think about this chapter. I distinctly remember this one being one of the easiest to write which is...interesting. But either way I really want to know your thoughts!


	13. are they

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naima meets Leah. It does not go very well but at least she gets pizza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is having a good Thursday. This chapter is a biiig one; I think it ended up being close to 3.6k but that's great for you guys :D

* * *

**THIRTEEN**

**are they**

* * *

The first time she met Leah would go down as one of the more eventful meetings of her life. It was below the terrible news, like hearing about her mum’s illness, and above moving to America. She was still trying to decide whether it was higher or lower than when she’d told her dad she wanted to stop wearing her scarf. 

Leah’s reaction had the same feel as her dad’s angry silence. Only Leah wasn’t being silently angry.

The woman was intimidating; she towered over Naima - even if she wasn’t sitting on a log - and it made Naima feel all the smaller as she sat there in Leah’s shadow. Her incredibly long hair was up in a high ponytail that seemed to be tight enough to pull at her classically structured face and her dark eyes were almost charcoal black with anger. 

Naima wasn’t sure her own eyes had ever blazed dark with emotion before. She’d thought it was just something that only happened in cheesy books. A shorthand to make sure the reader was fully aware of how emotive that character was being. 

“You dumped me for _her?”_ Leah hissed in quiet anger. 

“No, I didn’t,” Sam said unflinchingly.

Naima had to give Sam props for not shrinking under Leah’s gaze, but she supposed when you were a large 6-foot-something man then you didn’t need to be intimidated by the physicality of a woman. Though Leah seemed like she was almost his height anyway. 

Maybe her theory about Native American super soldiers wasn’t as glib as she had intended if half the population was that tall. Or maybe they just had really, _really_ , good genes. 

“So, what? You lift a few weights and suddenly you’re too good for everyone?” 

Sam’s lips tightened and he withheld the impulse to sigh loudly. He knew this was coming, regardless of how much he’d wished it wasn’t. 

“And to top it off, I had to hear it from Emily?” Leah continued. 

“That’s not how it played out Leah. Don’t try and twist things around. I spoke to you, I told you I couldn’t be with you anymore,” Sam said, trying to appeal to her logical side. 

Naima winced as she saw Leah draw herself up further. That was not a good way to go about having a conversation with an angry woman. But despite the full-blown anger, there was little that Naima was able to pick up from the context of the conversation and it left her feeling out of place. 

“Why did you come here?” Sam asked. If she had only stayed in Washington. “Haven't you got a few more weeks of school left?” 

Naima was pretty sure that she probably shouldn’t be sitting there, privy to what seemed like a very important conversation (argument). 

“You think I’m gonna make things easy on you? So you can be with her?” Leah spat. 

A bit of spit actually landed on Naima’s jeans, turning the light blue a few shades darker in the place that it had landed and she subtly brushed it away. Would it look too rude if she started picking at the gold nail polish?

But this was the second time that Leah had said something to the effect of her and Sam dating and Sam hadn’t said anything to dissuade her so Naima took it into her own hands. It was possible that it would drain the tension somewhat and that horrible gnawing feeling in her stomach would go away. 

“We’re just friends,” Naima said. “Sam’s been helping -” 

The blazing dark eyes turned on her and she fought with everything not to shrink down from it. She was not someone to be looked down upon, regardless of how angry the other person was. 

“Was I talking to you?” It was a rhetorical question. “No, I wasn’t so I suggest you shut the fuck up!” 

“Leah,” Sam growled. Naima had never heard him so angry. 

Leah turned to Sam and her face took on a hauntingly cruel smile. “You did always think you were better than this place, didn’t you? Better than us. It makes sense that you’d want something exotic.” 

Naima hated that word. Exotic. Like she was something to be pawned at. The word suggested something alien. Something not quite like us and it had been used on her too frequently as a way to get around that she didn't look normal. That her mix wasn't natural.

The word left a bad taste in her mouth and she did her best not to glare at Leah for using it. She had thought that Native American women were tired of being fetishized themselves.

“If your slut thinks -” 

Naima stood up and positioned herself directly in front of Leah. She was right; Leah was so much taller than her that it must have been a comical sight. 

“Excuse me,” Naima said. Her voice was laced with steel and punctuated by her accent. Even to her own ears. “I’ve done nothing to you for you to call me a slut. Actually, I’ve never seen you in my life. So I don’t think you get to call me that.” 

Leah snorted. “I wasn’t talking to you.” 

But it was fine that she was talking _about_ Naima like she wasn’t there? Naima tried to push away the shaking in her hands, but she how to without drawing attention to them.

Leah was out for blood and she couldn’t let the woman know how much she was being affected. 

“I think that you and Sam need to have this conversation in private and nothing about that involves me. But since it doesn’t seem like you can do that at the beach where everyone can _see_ you, you should go away.” 

“I don’t think so,” Leah laughed. “This is my home. I’m not going anywhere.” 

Naima stared at her and Leah stared back. Now there wasn’t anger in her eyes but a spitefulness that left Naima unable to say anything. 

“Then we’ll go,” Sam said. 

“What?” Leah asked. 

“Naima’s right. If you really want to talk then we can. But not here and not now.” 

Naima whipped her head around to see Sam. Regardless of whether he realised it or not, he was siding himself with her. And whatever Leah’s intentions for coming back here when she was maybe supposed to be at college, that was sending a big sign in girl code. 

And Naima wasn’t sure she wanted to be the cause of that. 

She didn’t know a lot - or anything other than the tidbits of information Sam had let slip a couple of times, and that was even assuming the ex he’d been talking about was Leah - about their relationship but she knew that people didn’t get as angry as Leah was if they didn’t have things they needed to say. 

Naima found herself opening her mouth to let Sam know that she could go but the words wouldn’t come out. Part of the reason was because she didn’t want to give Leah the satisfaction of getting her way, especially after the general rudeness that was associated with calling someone a slut.

As if she were a homewrecker. As if she and Sam were even dating, to begin with! But mostly it was because over the last few months she’d spent with Sam, she had come to realise that he didn’t say things that he didn’t mean. And when those words were a direction, they very often translated into sheer stubbornness. 

If Sam wanted to stay, he would and there was nothing anyone could do to stop that. 

Leah seemed like she understood that too because she stopped and scowled. “Fine. I’m here for a week.”

“Alright,” Sam said. 

Then he took Naima's hand and gently pulled her backwards until she was in stride with him. 

They didn’t say anything until they got to the car and Naima had to give him the keys. “You drive,” she said.

“Naima?” 

“Fuck,” she whispered. She could feel her hands and legs trembling, and her heart was beating too fast in her chest. She tried to take a deep breath and process the sensations. Categorise them in her head. 

Slowly it worked. 

“Are you ok?” Sam asked. He came towards her, looking her over in the meantime. His hands were outstretched, still holding onto the keys as if he didn’t know what to do with them. Or like he was ready to catch her if she collapsed. 

“I’m ok,” Naima said. “I just...I haven’t had much face-to-face confrontation in my life.” She had to breathe in between the sentences. Much of the sensation reminded her of trying to talk after a PE class. “I don’t get into a lot of fights.” 

Sam frowned. “I’m sorry,” he said. 

“Not your fault,” Naima responded. She smiled up at him. “It’s probably good for me - you know - to not be a scaredy-cat.”

Sam, still frowning, pulled her into a hug hoping that she wouldn’t mind. She didn’t seem to, in fact, she held onto him tighter. “You might be going into shock.” 

“Yeah, probably,” Naima said. 

Her voice was muffled because of his shirt, but even still he could hear the thickness behind it and the tremors ran through her body. Was she really so affected by confrontation? 

In the distance, Sam could smell Leah coming towards them and he mentally let out a string of curses. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you warm.” 

“Ok,” she said tearfully. 

When he pulled away, he saw tears streaming down her face and he cursed more. Sam guided her into the passenger side of her car and quickly adjusted everything he needed to have it be more comfortable for him to drive. 

He saw Leah come down the path just as he reversed out of the parking spot and he paid no attention to her anger. He could deal with her later. 

Naima was quiet for most of the drive back but when Sam turned down a road she didn’t recognise, she spoke. “Where are we going?” 

“To my house.”

“Really? Why?”

“I didn’t think you’d want your sister to see you like this.” 

He had a point. Eve would get worried about her if she came home crying, even if she went straight to her room. 

But she had never gone to Sam’s house before and it felt weird to her. Like they were crossing some sort of line. It felt like the first time she’d done something she ‘wasn’t supposed to’ like wear a short skirt or go to a party, or get in a date’s car. 

“Are you ok?” he asked. 

Naima was snapped out of her thoughts. “Uh - yeah. I’m ok.” 

When they pulled up outside his house, Naima opened the door and almost sluggishly walked behind Sam. She felt so tired suddenly. 

Sam opened the door and walked in. She waited for him to close the front door and followed him into his living room. She tried to take it in but it felt like there was not enough space in her head to do much of anything other than sit down on his sofa. 

“What’s wrong Naima?” he asked. 

She looked up at him and noted that he just looked so worried so she tried to reassure him with a smile. “Honestly, I’m ok. I just - I really haven’t been in many confrontations like that before.” 

Sam nodded and suddenly she felt sleepy. 

“I think you need something sugary,” he said. 

Naima hummed and Sam went through the door. She heard him opening cupboards and packets rustling. When he came back he was holding a few different chocolate types. 

Do you want Hershey’s?” he asked. 

Naima pulled a face. “That’s actually disgusting. Why would you offer that?” 

Sam laughed. “Kit Kat?” 

Naima looked at the wrapper properly. She did want Kit Kat, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t taste like the ones back in London. The chocolate part of it would be too bitter and that was the best part about a Kit Kat. “No thanks.”

“MnMs?” he asked. 

“What kind?” 

“Peanut,” Sam said. It seemed like the Naima who was coming down off an adrenaline rush was a picky eater. 

“Why would you have those? I thought you were allergic to peanuts?” she said. 

“What?” Sam asked. 

He seemed to be caught off guard and it made Naima pause for a moment to really look at him. “Yeah,” she said. “You told me you’d had a bad reaction to them when you were a teenager.”

Sam could have smacked himself. He’d told her that without thinking and after he’d shifted, the allergy had been gone. He’d very cheerfully gone back to eating peanut butter and jelly for a little while. 

“I grew out of it.” It was the first thing he could think of. 

“You grew out of a severe peanut allergy?” Naima asked. 

“I guess so.”

That didn’t seem right to her, but in her sleep-addled brain, there wasn’t enough space to think it through much more. Instead she nodded. “I wish I would grow out of my hayfever.” 

“Well, you’ve still got a bit of growing to do,” Sam said, forcing a chuckle. 

“Shut up!”

“Here.” He passed her the yellow bag. “Eat your candy.” 

“It’s chocolate.” 

“If you say so.” 

Naima munched on the MnMs quietly, only pausing for a moment when Sam sat down beside her. But this was normal territory, they’d done that often enough, so she went back to eating. Soon she was done and she looked around for a place to put the packet. Sam handed his hand out and she gave it to him with a 'thanks'. 

She still felt sleepy, and it was only enhanced by the puffiness of the area surrounding her eyes. The puffiness pushed down on her eyelids making it that much harder to keep them open. 

“Do you want a blanket?” Sam asked. 

“I shouldn’t fall asleep,” she mumbled.

“Are you tired?” he asked. 

She gave a slow nod. 

“Then sleep Naima. You need it.” 

He made it sound so good, sleep. It was easy. And she was already really tired. She could take a nap - an hour or two - and then she could go back home. 

And Sam was so warm, she didn’t even need a blanket. Actually, she was the warmest she’d been in a while. 

**

When Naima woke up it was dark outside. That was saying something because it was June and it didn’t get dark in June till at least 7pm. That meant she’d slept for at least three hours. 

She sat up and felt a blanket slide off her. Realising that Sam must have put it on her at some point, Naima blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked around. Sam was in the corner of the front room with a little light trained on a book, reading. 

“Finally awake?” he asked. 

“Yes?” she asked, drawn out. “Did I wake up before?” 

“You sleep talk, did you know that?” he asked, smiling. 

Naima pulled a face. She had thought she’d grown out of that but obviously the sleep talking had come back in full force. Maybe it was triggered by trauma or something. “Did I say anything weird?” 

“You told me there was porridge in the fridge. I thank you and you seemed to go back to sleep.” Sam laughed at Naima’s groan and put his book down. 

Naima lifted the blanket off herself “What’s the time?” she asked as she folded the blanket up. 

“Just gone 8. You hungry?” 

She considered his offer. Her dad would probably start getting antsy if she was out too long, especially as there was nothing really to do in La Push or Forks so his brain would jump to something dumb, but she was hungry. Even before their run-in with Leah she had been hungry so now she was actually starving. 

“Yeah. What have you got?” 

“Not much,” he said. “But I have the pizza place on speed dial.” 

Her stomach groaned angrily at the automatic image and taste of pizza brought to mind and Sam grinned like he had won something big. “Fine. Pizza then. I just need to let them know I’ll be back later.” 

He nodded and reached for his phone. Naima did the same for hers asking him for directions to the bathroom. She input the numbers and brought the phone to her ear. It rang a few times before Eve answered. 

_“Salamu Alaykum.”_ Eve’s voice sounded strained.

“Walaikum Salaam.”

_“What’s up? You’re usually home a lot earlier than this. Everything ok?”_

Naima hummed. “Is dad there?” she asked.

There was a pause on the other end of the line and Naima could hear someone talking. He was home. _“He’s in the kitchen. Why?”_

“I just wanted to let you guys know I’m with a friend and lost track of time. We’re going to get some food now and I’ll be back after that.”

Eve relayed the message and then she came back to the phone. _“Dad wants to know if you’re with Sam.”_

“Yes, I’m with Sam,” she said without much hesitation. It had passed her mind to lie but her dad always knew when she was lying and she didn’t want to have to deal with the outcome of that. She also didn’t want to make Eve lie either. 

_“What time will you be home?”_ Eve asked softly. 

“I don’t know. No later than 10, I imagine.” 

_“That’s…later than normal.”_

Naima held back a sigh. Eve had been asking about where she was more and more lately and it was getting on her nerves. They’d not really talked about their fight, but it was still hanging over their heads some; Naima wasn’t going to apologise for being around Sam and Eve wasn’t going to get over it. 

“It takes time to order and for the food to arrive. I’m a slow eater.” She hoped her dad wouldn’t ask where they were because he really would start lecturing her if he found out she was at his house alone. And Eve would be even more bitchy about it.

_“Fine. I’ll see you at 10 then.”_

“Alright. I left some keema defrosting in the fridge. It’s

probably mostly thawed by now.” 

_“Yeah, Dad found it already.”_

“Alright then. Bye.”

 _“Bye,”_ Eve said.

Naima ended the call with a sigh of relief. That hadn’t been too hard, though she wondered why her dad hadn’t asked to speak with her directly. Maybe he was getting mellower in his age.

She snorted. That wasn’t likely. 

Niama used the bathroom and then left, going back to Sam who had turned the front room lights on. 

“Ordered the pizza,” he said. “A hot veggie for you, meat lovers for me.” 

Naima hummed. “Thanks. How much do I owe you?” 

He waved her off. “Don’t worry. It’s probably about the same price as being accosted by Leah like that. I’m sorry by the way.”

Naima took her spot back on the sofa, shaking her head all the way. “Not your fault I almost had a panic attack,” she said. “It’s embarrassing.” 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked, frowning. “You stood up for yourself. I don’t know what there is to be embarrassed about.” 

It was a sweet compliment but she couldn’t accept it.

Naima knew she could stand up for others. She had done it her fair share at school and among her peers when others were being bullied. Bullies were persistent, it turned out. It hadn’t always resulted in the same panicky feeling that she’d gotten earlier but most of the time it did make her want to throw up. 

But that was the easy part. Speaking up for others was easy. There was injustices that happened all over and her parents had taught her that; Islam asked you to stand up to the injustices, even if it’s not the easy thing to do. As a matter of principle, do good. Don’t oppress others. Have courtesy and kindness to all. 

But it was so much harder to speak out for herself. So much more difficult to keep grace and calm in the face of someone saying horrible things to her. 

“I don’t think so,” she said quietly, looking down at the gold polish. It was all almost gone from how much she’d picked at it earlier. “I’m quiet when it really matters.” 

“That’s not what I’ve seen,” Sam said firmly. “You’re always ready to say the things that need to be said. Always.” 

Naima looked up. She could feel the smile tugging lamely at her face in all its self-deprecating glory. “If you say so.” 

Sam frowned again. “I do. And if you don’t think so I’ll just have to poke you _every time_ you start in on yourself like that!” 

“Do that and I’ll sic Eve on you,” Naima said grinning. “She’s been really curious about where I’m going lately. Something about you still being a serial killer.”

Sam looked slightly horrified at that. “Don’t...be offended,” he said, “but she’s a bit intense.” 

Naima laughed at the polite way he’d said it. “She’s scornful is what she is. An intensely scornful judgy little sixteen-year-old.” 

Sam followed in her laughter. “I guess so. Sounds like someone I know.” 

“Do you know many of them?” Naima asked. 

“Just one other. He’s pretty awful most of the time.” 

“Well maybe we just put them in a room and they can try to out-glare each other,” she said. 

“I like that plan.” 

“I’ll set it up.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible new concept:  
> \- standing against all injustices: This is an ideology - and I would also go as far as saying its a commandment because there's things about it in the Qur'an (the holy book) - that in my experience is not often taught. I only really learnt about it from my mum this year during the Black Lives Matter protests. The Qur'an says: "O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." [Quran 4:135]
> 
> It's arguably easier to stand up for what is right when you don't think it affects you or if it's a 'big' injustice but no-one ever talks about the 'small' ones that take place between family members or the ones you ignore because it's convenient to do so. I've been trying to do that myself this year and...it's been a rough time.


	14. who hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve explains to the twins what's going on with her and Naima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday! 
> 
> This chapter very much explains some of the reasoning for why Eve thinks the way she does. Lots of religion in this chapter and if anyone is confused or wants more explanation, please ask. 
> 
> It is not the be-all/end-all of this topic, nor can I really explain it in loads and loads of detail but this is how Eve understands it. And she's 16.

* * *

**FOURTEEN**

**who hunger**

* * *

Eve sat in front of the twins at Sue’s diner. They’d decided to get some food on their way back from the beach seeing as they were always hungry. Always. She’d still not managed to crack down on why that was, but she refused to believe that it was just Growing-Child-Syndrome. That was an insult to her intelligence. 

They got there and Eve waved hello to Sue. The woman wasn’t always around, but she was there more often than not. Eve had heard that her husband had died of a heart attack a few months ago and so she always made sure to leave a nice tip and try and be a good customer. There was nothing worse than dealing with the loss of a loved one and having to carry on with the rest of your life. 

She’d not spoken to Seth Clearwater seeing as he was in the year below her, but she made sure to smile at him whenever she did meet him at the library or around the town. He seemed to be handling things well enough, but she knew more than anyone how well people could put on a brave face. 

“What are you getting today?” Brady asked her as they sat down. The waitress brought them all menus but none of the three needed it. 

“Pancakes,” Eve said without thinking. 

“Short stack?” Colin asked, from behind the menu. 

She was getting better at telling them apart when they were side by side. It was still difficult to do when they weren’t next to each other but she knew that, by the end of the year, she would have them figured out. 

Then they wouldn’t be able to do their nonsense twin pranks. 

“I’m not a human bin bag like you guys,” she said. 

Colin snorted. Then proceeded to order his usual large amount of food with the waitress. She seemed to be used to it, considering she didn’t baulk at the sheer amount of carbs that Colin alone was going to consume. 

Brady placed his own - ridiculously large - order. There was no way they were that sick all the time if they ate like that. When it was Eve’s turn, she just asked for the smaller pancakes. 

She’d grown to like them. They were still too much half the time, but they were good people. 

She was quiet while the twins bickered, and they noticed. Eve smiled when she had to but was nowhere near as involved in the conversation as she usually was. 

“Alright what’s up?” Brady asked. 

“What?” Eve said. 

“You’ve been off for a few weeks but today you’re totally out of it,” Colin added. 

Eve looked at the two of them. She hadn’t realised that her anxiety had been so visible and as she looked between the two of them she wanted to tell them. About the guilt, her dad, Naima - everything.

That was one of the benefits of having friends. Being able to just blurt out the things you couldn’t keep to yourself. 

So she did. 

It had already been a few weeks and she hadn’t seen anything going on. Naima wasn’t acting any different to how she had been and Eve was starting to get frustrated by constantly having to make excuses to hang out with her and Sam. It was not fun. 

_ And she was spying on her sister.  _

Was that what her life was going to be for the foreseeable future? Spying on her sister? 

Eve was caught up in her story, but not enough to notice that the boys kept looking at each other throughout it and she wondered what they were thinking. But she said nothing, and neither did they until she was done and the food had come. 

“Why is your dad so worried?” Colin asked. 

Eve shrugged and cut into a piece of her pancake. “It’s difficult to explain,” she eventually said. 

“We can probably handle it,” Brady remarked. 

Eve nodded slowly. “Well - ok there are a few different reasons for this and I’m going to try and explain them as best as I can.” Eve waited until the boys nodded and then she took a deep breath. “Right. So historically, women have always had less power than men and therefore less of a chance to take care of herself. In Islam, it’s the man’s job to care for his family anyway.” 

The twins nodded. They were still eating, but slowly like they were paying her all the attention in the world. Eve felt a sudden onslaught of panic. If she screwed up this explanation they would think that her dad was just...crazy. And he wasn’t. If she had to guess, he was just really worried about Naima. 

“So back then - and even now probably - if a woman got pregnant there was no way to be able to look after her baby, her reputation was ruined and she may have even got shunned by her family. That’s a historical reason for why it's better not to.” 

“Ok,” Colin said. 

Eve could see that they wanted to talk, that they didn’t understand, and that roiling panic came back. She was screwing this up. She bit her lip and took another breath, then a bite of her pancake. Maybe the syrup would give her some courage. 

“Sort of similarly, it's a protection to the family structure. Within that context of marriage you can raise a family more steadily and that’s important - in theory, that’s what happens anyway.” She had to add that last bit because she knew where their minds would go. There were definitely circumstances when raising children with the mum and dad present was not good for anyone. 

“Ok,” Brady said carefully. “But that’s the same thing in Christianity. But there are plenty of Christians that will sleep with people and not be married to them. So what does it matter to your dad?” 

“And there are contraceptives now,” Colin said. 

There were. And that was a whole other thing. Eve remembered learning about the dos and don'ts of contraception at the Islamic school her parents had briefly sent the two of them to before realising they were a bit more extreme than they’d wanted. 

“Yeah, but that's not the point.”

“What do you mean?” Brady asked. 

Eve blushed at what she was about to say. It was cheesy and probably far too much a romantic notion to say out loud - and now she sounded like Naima.  _ Romantic notions? _ That was so lame. She took a sip of the water that was too cold because the waitress constantly forgot not to put ice in it. Who wanted ice when temperatures were 11 degrees - or should it be 50-something now that she was in America. That still confused her. 

The water didn’t do much to help. “It’s also...the scholars say that it's more valuable when it's done only between a husband and wife. It - it…has a different energy...” she trailed off. 

Colin raised an eyebrow and Brady seemed like he was holding back a smirk. She knew it would sound lame!

“That’s sorta sweet,” Brady said. “But it doesn’t explain why your dad is so concerned about your sister’s sex life.” 

Eve scrunched her nose in distaste at even having to think about that. 

Brady continued despite the face she pulled. “So why is he making you spy on her and Sam?” 

“The simplest reason is that having sex outside of marriage is Haram - not permissible. I.e. God would be very unhappy,” she said. 

“And your dad has to make sure she doesn’t?” Colin asked. 

“No - not really. She’s accountable for her own actions,” Eve said. 

“So why can’t he leave her be?” Brady asked. 

The analogy came to her in a moment and she felt relief at having something to compare it to finally. “It’s like when we’re at school. There are rules the principle or the governors have set for whatever reason; our safety, to help up do better in the class, whatever. We don’t always agree with some of the rules, or they don’t make sense, but there are rules. But if you break the rules, you get sent to detention.” 

Brady leaned back in the booth and crossed his arms. Eve wasn’t sure whether he meant to or not, but the position made him look defensive and the tiniest bit aggressive. “Sure, but detention isn’t going to send us to hell if we break the rules. 

“No,” Eve agreed, “but if you keep breaking the rules and you keep getting detentions, it winds up on a permanent record. And that can have a whole load of consequences that you might not even think about.” 

Colin hummed. “I guess that sort of makes sense. There are things you may want to do but can’t because what you believe says you have to do something in a specific way. Or there are consequences.” 

Eve noticed Brady tense up and glare at Colin. She wondered what that was about. 

Brady looked at Eve and, though she could tell that he was still angry by what Colin had said, he wasn’t being as standoffish with her now. “Fine - cool. But if it’s not your dad’s business, then why are you spying on Naima for him?” 

Eve didn't say anything. She couldn’t. Why was she doing it? It was one thing to have said yes to him - she still felt incredibly uncomfortable about that - but saying yes didn’t mean she had to do it. She could have lied. 

All the times he’d asked her over the last five weeks, she could have just told him she hadn’t seen anything - because she hadn’t even seen anything. Nothing really was going on between Sam and Naima except for that odd intensity that she couldn’t figure out. 

“You have a choice here, Eve. And you don’t have to do what your dad tells you because he thinks he knows best.” Brady’s gaze was intense as he looked down at Eve. She found herself staring back and wondering what he was thinking. 

“He’s just worried about her,” she said quietly. 

“Maybe. But he shouldn’t be asking you to sneak around and report back to him. If he was really worried about her, he’d talk to her himself.” 

Eve swallowed involuntarily. It was the kind of reflex that happened without you knowing until you were mid swallow and then it sort of stuck in your throat for a second. It was the kind of swallow that happened when someone said something that struck true. 

“Brady,” Colin warned.

“He’s not wrong,” Eve said. 

“Yeah but he didn’t need to be so blunt about it,” Colin said as he punched his brother in the shoulder. 

Brady yelped in pain and Eve laughed at the two of them. Things sort of fell back into their normal and she was very grateful for that. 

The waitress came and asked if anyone wanted a refill and it struck Eve that they’d had this entire conversation in a  _ diner _ . Was she just that unaware of the things around her, or had she just been that desperate to talk to someone about all the stupidness that she’d been dealing with? 

And despite now feeling anxious about potentially having to tell her dad that she wasn’t going to follow Naima around anymore, she was grateful to the twins for just sitting and listening. 

She’d been scared, she realised, of what they would think of her if she talked about Islam. It was enough that she was so visibly Muslim in a place where there were mostly white people. But Eve and her family were the only people there that looked like they did. Sounded like they did. Acted like they did. 

Eve pretended not to notice the odd and sometimes mean looks that followed her when she came out of an empty classroom at prayer time. 

She’d felt like an outsider for so long. Even in her own family sometimes. Naima was always the one that had been good at school, that had been personable and able to get along with most people. She was able to get people to see her point when it mattered in a way that Eve had never been able to do, despite trying. 

That was something that she had grown to accept. She and her sister had different skills. They were better at different things - even if it seemed like Naima got all the useful things down to pat. 

But now? Well, she looked different too. London, as big as it was, had hundreds of women that looked like her - that wore a hijab. But in Forks, there was only her. 

Only her. 

And Naima was able to get away with just having different hair and different skin colour. 

But the twins didn’t look at her weirdly unless she was being weird. They laughed with her, not at her. And even at its most tense, Brady hadn’t attacked her or her religion. He’d just asked questions. 

“Thank you guys,” she blurted out.

“For what?” Brady asked. 

Eve wondered if she should tell the truth, but then she had already said so much that there was no point in lying, was there? “I - people don’t always react well to things about Islam. And you didn’t make a big deal out of it.”

They seemed to understand what she was saying without her needing to elaborate any more. 

“Duh,” Colin said. “As if we don’t understand prejudice.” 

“Besides, people are fucking morons.”

“Morons?” Eve said, raising her eyebrow. That was not a word they used very much. 

“It has a good ring to it.” Brady shrugged. 

“Of course it does. It has nothing to do with the fact that my insults are superior.” 

“Nope,” he said. “Now, are you gonna finish that short-stack?” he asked. 

Eve rolled her eyes and pushed the soggy pancakes towards him. How he wanted to eat those was beyond her. Honestly, the thought of it made her feel a little nauseous. “Have at it, bin bag.” 

She watched him shovel it down his throat in disgust, and then, very disconcertingly, the twins both turned their heads to the door a split second before it opened. In walked Jared and Kim - his new girlfriend. 

It shouldn’t have been that odd, except it reminded Eve of when a cat twitched its ears while it was sleeping. Something about it was odd and she was confused at how they’d even managed to hear anything over the hustle and bustle of the diner - and it was now getting to dinner time so the rush was coming in. 

That wasn’t normal, was it? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've noticed there's not been much interaction over the last few chapters. Everyone ok? I hope you're all safe and well.


	15. and thirst.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam needs the journals but someone keeps standing in his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays! 
> 
> I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas day, regardless of whether you celebrate it or not. My mum's partner celebrates and I got a gorgeous Viking style chess set from them. It's already been used and I'm trying to learn some new openings/more detailed rules about chess. It's so much fun!

* * *

**FIFTEEN**

**and thirst.**

* * *

He wasn’t sure that the day could get much more agitating; the extension he and his men were working on had to be delayed because someone had ordered the wrong timber. That was going to cost them another good few days and ultimately the _Hoquaht_ would be unhappy, and knowing the residents of Forks, it was highly likely they would try and cut the pay if they fell too far behind. And Sam couldn’t afford that right now. 

On top of that, it seemed like Embry was starting to show signs of shifting and so Sam had to keep eyes on him as well as wondering what kept happening with people in Seattle disappearing. He really hoped that wasn’t vampire activity but he wouldn’t hold his breath. Why else would Embry be showing signs? 

Sam sighed and kicked a rock that was beside his foot. It flew through the air and landed too far for him to see. 

At least Leah had gone back to Washington. She’d left a couple of weeks ago and she hadn’t been happy about what he’d had to say - she’d made that abundantly clear - but at least she wasn’t in La Push. For whatever reason, he knew that if she had stayed that something bad would’ve happened to her. And maybe he was being paranoid but he’d learn to trust his gut more and moreover the last year and a half. 

Sometimes he wondered if there was some sort of barrier that was lost when he Phased because there were times he’d run on purely animal instinct. It scared him - Sam hated not knowing things. 

Especially when it was something that may be affecting his Pack. 

But no one had said anything. No one had thought it either - and it was far too difficult to hide your thoughts when you were on shift with someone else. In fact, it was almost impossible. He'd tried. 

So if none of the others were experiencing anything then was there just something wrong with him? 

Sam sighed again. He was going to need to talk to the Elders about it and see if he could request the journals. 

He scoffed and kicked another stone. This one hit a tree and bounced backwards, falling into a patch of grass that was growing around the area. Those journals were nothing but glorified wives tales handed down through the generations. He wouldn't have been surprised if they were literal wives tales either. 

But he pushed aside the bitterness that those thoughts had brought him. It was all the information they had, and it wasn't like they could really do any tests on the Pack either. Not unless they wanted the secret of La Push getting out everywhere - and somehow he figured the Leeches not knowing that there was an enemy built for the sole purpose of killing them was a strategic advantage. 

Sam pulled out his phone. It was old and beat up. Half the time it would drop calls but it did the trick the other half so there wasn't much point - and nor did he have the money - in replacing it. 

Scrolling through his contact list he sent a message to Jared letting him know that he was gonna be a little late to movie night. When he was sure the message had gone through, Sam got back in his truck and made his way to the Tribunal. 

When he got there, he let his eyes roam over the freely old building for a few moments. 

It was worn; a mismatch of old and newer parts where water damage from a constant barrage of rain had made the roof collapse. The building was painted with an off white at some point, but over the years it had turned grey, and there were brown streaks closest to the foundation where people leaned against it, resting their foot against the wall. 

It surprised him that the windows were never broken. La Push had enough problems with drugs for there not to be damage to a more communal area, but somehow even those on the reservation that were off of their heads on drugs were marginally respectful enough to not try and loot the place. 

And it wasn't like there was anything in there to sell off in the first place. 

Sam pushed past the trepidation he felt and prayed to whatever gods there were that the Tribunal would house some of the less annoying Elders. He could tolerate Billy and Quil Sr, even though both the men could be grouchy bastards who held the legends above everything. 

But as he got closer his nose picked up the dull charcoal smell of his grandfather. 

Sam cursed and all but turned around on the spot. He didn’t ever want to deal with the man. But after the day he had, it would be even harder to tolerate the lofty stares and the angry muttering that Sam could hear despite the lowness of volume and pitch. 

But then Levi Uley opened the door to the Tribunal and walked out of the building and Sam knew he couldn’t turn tail and run. Not now when it was clear that he would be running away. 

The thought roiled in his stomach and there was an edge of something that called him into action in his mind. 

Without meaning to, Sam took a heavy step forward. And another. And another. 

Sam watched Levi’s face as he approached the old man. The man didn’t flinch. He didn’t do very much at all, actually. He just looked at Sam coolly, though Sam had to wonder just how much of it was an act because he could hear the quick beating heart underneath the heavy coat. 

“Sam.” The name reached him in the air before Sam reached the man but he continued talking nonetheless. “What did you need?” 

“I don’t know that it’s any of _your_ business,” Sam said. 

He moved past the man and walked in through the still-open door. He didn’t expect it to close behind him but he was momentarily surprised by how quickly Levi managed to get himself up the steps and through the door after Sam. 

“If it's to do with the Pack then as an Elder, I will need to know.” 

Sam clamped his teeth shut and began clenching them. It irked him more than he could put into words how much the man could stake claim to Pack information when he was not the one that had to live through the transformation of boys too young into animal protectors. Glorified guard dogs. “I must be in luck then. It’s not to do with the Pack.” 

He felt no guilt for the lie. 

“Is it about the newcomer?” 

“No.” 

Levi hummed. Sam did not like it. 

“We have been researching the Imprint bond. So far we’ve not come across anything that can explain your...attachment to her.” Levi walked around Sam to a locked bookshelf that held the leatherbound journals of their ancestors. 

Every time Sam saw them he wondered why they were so easily accessible to anyone who wanted them. A sheet of worn, decorated wood and a flimsy lock. They were not going to keep back anyone who wanted them. 

But then, he reminded himself, who wanted the fairy tales you were put to bed with or told around a bonfire? 

“You’ve been spending more time with her, I hear.” At Sam’s piercing look Levi gave him a tight smile. “Gossip spreads like wildfire.”

That did not bode well for Sam. If they were looking into what was going on between him and Naima and they had found nothing...well what was he going to find? He did not like his grandfather, but the man had been one of the first on the Reservation to be accepted into a college on scholarship. He’d graduated with honours in a time where nobody wanted him to succeed at all. 

If he hadn’t found anything referencing whatever it was then there was probably nothing in the journals. 

And worse yet, it seemed like the Elders were keeping a closer eye on Naima. And he knew what the Quileute people could do to outsiders. Jared had experienced it enough when his mom had come needing a place to stay. 

For all their reverence towards the old days, his tribe were still people. They could be cruel. 

“She’s become a friend to the Pack. Her and her sister.” Sam hoped that was enough to ward off the old bastards. At the very least, it might put a damper on some of the spite that might have come their way. 

“You haven’t told them?” Levi asked steelily. 

“Of course not. We’re not stupid! But they are friends.” 

Levi hummed again and Sam liked it even less. 

He didn’t want to be there anymore but if he left now then he knew that it would look suspicious. “I suppose I’ll just get the journal I need and leave you to your gossiping then.” 

“Stay,” Levi said. “We’ve not spoken to each other for -”

“No,” Sam cut off. “Don’t think for a moment I’ve forgiven you.” 

“Forgiven me?” Levi growled out. “I'm not the one that needs to ask for forgiveness Samuel.” 

Sam laughed in response. Even to him, it sounded bitter and he didn’t want to hear it again. “I’m leaving now,” he said as he walked to the door. “You can bring the journals to me.” 

“Sam!” 

He knew that the last comment would push up against his grandfather’s pride and it felt good to ruffle him like that. But even still, when Levi had called his name there was a ring of authority that Sam felt the need to challenge. He had to tamper down the want to shift - to show this feeble thing just how insignificant and breakable he was in the grand scheme of things. 

The shock of the emotion left him panting and he could sense Levi keeping very still behind him. That was good. He had sense. 

It took a moment to bring himself back to neutral and when he did he answered. “What?” 

“I think we should talk.”

A bark of laughter escaped his throat and this Sam did not tamper down. So what if Levi thought he was crazy - half the time Sam thought he was just trapped in an incredibly lucid dream that he, ironically enough, had no control over. 

“That’s funny. You’re funny, old man.” It was nice that he hadn’t lost his humor. 

Levi seemed to be collecting himself from behind Sam. “I think -”

“I’ve heard a lot about what you think, and I don’t agree with it. Nor do I care.”

Sam heard the dull thud of a cane on the wooden floors. It echoed around the near-empty building almost asking Sam to follow the sound with his eyes as he heard it bounce off the walls. “I am still your Grandfather Samuel. You will show your elders some respect!” 

“I don’t think so,” Sam growled. He turned in a measured movement to see the man behind him. Levi’s face was tinted a redder hue than his natural color and Sam remembered seeing that face a handful of times. It was hardly ever directed at him, but the last time he’d seen it, it was directed at his mother. “I don’t just hand out respect to people who do not deserve it.”

“You think your mother was a saint! She wasn’t.” 

“I’m leaving.” 

“She was sleeping with Harry!” Levi spat. “She whored herself out and Matthew couldn’t take it anymore so he left.” 

Sam looked at Levi - really looked at him. This was what he had based his wrath on? _This?_ He wanted to leave, to turn around and not listen to this man who thought he was better than a struggling woman and not give him an ounce more attention. But that was his mother. 

“I know what she did,” Sam said. 

There was a moment, a pause that felt unnatural to the both of them before it was broken by Levi. “What?!” he choked out. 

“I know what she did. I know that she slept with Harry Clearwater and I know she did it more than once. But what right does that give you to judge her when dad was out there doing the same to her every weekend?” 

Levi bit his tongue, though the red tint was taking over his face more and more by the second. “You condone her actions?” he spat.

“No I don’t. But that was my mother. And you took your misplaced anger out on her.” Levi was about to speak, Sam could see it. But he was done with talking to this man. “How does that make you better than any wife-beater? You, who calls himself a man.” 

Sam turned around, not caring anymore. Not about this. 

“You will organise for the journals to be brought to my house by the end of the week, Elder Uley.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really...this chapter feels a bit clunky to me but I don't really know what to do about it. I hope you guys enjoyed some of the family tesnion.


	16. A strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> House, Holmes? Does it make a difference who's soling the mystery so long as it gets solved?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday and Happy NEW YEAR! 2020 is over! 
> 
> I'm sorry it's a bit later in the day but I've just moved and it takes a lot of organising to organise a room. I'm so tired guys, honestly. But here it is and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**SIXTEEN**

**A strength**

* * *

The seat in front of Eve’s was empty again. Brady had missed homeroom but she had at least seen him slide into his class just before first period. But Colin had not made it yet and it was already the third period. 

There was a pop quiz coming up for history - Mrs Garcia had mentioned that it was going to be a fairly big one at the start of the lesson - but Colin wasn’t going to know that because he was ‘off sick’ again. 

And that excuse was about to make her eat her hijab because she’d seen him just the other day cliff diving with Sam’s group. And ok sure, maybe it had been the cliff diving that had made him sick, but this was the fourth time this month that he had been off - never mind Brady! 

It was honestly ridiculous that they were able to get away with it! 

“Do you have something to add Miss Wright?” Mrs Garcia asked, breaking Eve out of her thoughts. 

Eve sat up, attentive and confused. “Sorry, what?” 

Mrs Garcia raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow and folded her hands over her chest. “Do you have something to add, Miss Wright?” 

“Uh...no?” Eve asked. 

“Then I suggest you stop scoffing at my lesson and pay attention. You never know what will come up on the quiz.” 

“Right - sorry.” Eve waited until Mrs Garcia turned and started writing things on the board again before she let out a breath. Apparently, the twins were rubbing off on her if she was making sounds without realising it. 

She sighed. This was taking up too much of her brainpower at the moment and it was not a good thing. There were a stupid amount of quizzes coming up and America seemed to think that if you crammed knowledge over the year it would stay in your brain for longer. 

Well - it wasn’t like the system worked so well back in England either but Eve was of the belief that it was better the devil you knew than having to learn a whole new system of schooling. 

_And she had to do Maths again!_

Eve sighed and resigned herself to doodle-planning for the rest of the lesson. There was no way she was going to pay attention to anything history related anyways. She was not doing so well in this one - mostly because she’d stopped paying attention to the words once they started talking about things she didn’t care about - which was most of history. 

Besides. Americans had that nifty little thing called extra credit. So if she really started failing then she could always ask for that. The teachers were a little bit more lenient with her anyway because she was from a whole other country. 

When the bell rang, Eve made her way to the lunch hall and found a table with a couple of girls she’d made friends with. They had been nice enough to show her around when she’d first started, and they’d kept talking a bit through the summer. 

“Hey Sonia,” Eve said as she sat at the table. 

“Eve,” Sonia said enthusiastically. “Not sitting with the twins today?” 

Eve saw the sly smile and rolled her eyes. “Nah. I needed some girl time. The twins are fun, but boys are so...boyish.” The table laughed. 

“Tell me about it,” Connie said. “Well, we’re glad you’ve graced us with your presence Queenie.” 

Eve rolled her eyes at the nickname again but let out a smile. They were good friends. More so than she’d had back home. It was nice to talk with them. “If anyone’s the queen here it's you Con,” Eve said as she took a bite of the pasta Naima had made. 

She smiled at the taste. 

“What have you guys been up to?” Sonia asked and Connie launched into her account of the weekend. 

Eve listened politely, laughing when she was supposed to and groaning when she heard something particularly stupid. Eventually, the conversation flew into different topics and Eve figured now was as good a time as any to ask what she really wanted. 

“Hey, listen. I was wondering if you knew why Colin and Brady were off so often.” She watched her friends' faces and noticed that Sonia looked more than a little put out by the change of topic. Connie looked angry. 

“What have they told you?” Connie asked.

Ok, well that sentence was definitely a suspicious one. Eve found herself immediately looking back at the times when she’d hung out with the twins to see if they were doing anything they probably shouldn't have been - or if they’d ever said anything that was off-key. And she hadn’t asked them too often because she’d been worried that they would get offended. But they had given the same type of answer whenever they weren’t at school. “Well, they told me they get sick.” 

Connie snorted and took a bite of her pizza. “Sure, sick. I don’t think they’ve ever been sick in their life!”

Yeah, Eve had thought the same thing more than a few times since hanging out with them. Was she going to get any new answers? 

Sonia shook her head. “That’s not true though, is it? They got really sick a few months ago - just before you moved here. I think they even had to be sent home from school.”

“Really?” Eve asked. 

“Yeah,” Sonia said. “I think they were, like, shaking and had a really high temperature. People were worried that there was a bad bug going around.” 

“Why?” Eve asked. 

“Didn’t you know?” 

“No.”

Sonia bit her lip and then took a sip of her drink. “Well, it was super odd. A couple of months before that the same thing apparently happened to Jacob Black, Quil Ateara and Embry Call. Though Embry got sick around June I think.” 

Eve frowned. They were all people that had been around her house that weekend - except for Embry - and she didn’t want to get paranoid about it, but that was one hell of a coincidence if it wasn’t paranoia. 

“Sure. But it’s pretty damn weird that they gained so much height and muscle over that time,” Connie said. Eve couldn’t figure out what was making Connie so angry about the situation but whatever it was was giving her some more insight into this whole thing so Eve wasn’t going to complain. 

“Yeah, I noticed that they look way older than they should be. They’re our age, right?” Eve asked. 

“Well Black and his friends are seventeen or something like that, but they definitely don’t seem it,” Sonia said. But she shrugged. “It’s probably just the genetic lottery.”

“Not fucking likely,” Connie said. “They’re probably on drugs. Or steroids.”

“They’re probably not,” Sonia said. 

“How else do you explain why they hang around with Uley all the time?” 

“The twins said they were doing some sort of Rez patrol or something like that,” Eve said. Connie raised her brow and Sonia shrugged again. 

“Well it’s a big conspiracy here,” Sonia said. “Some people think they’re a gang, some people think they’re selling drugs. But the Elders don’t do anything about it. Actually, I think they sometimes encourage them. So it’s probably nothing.” 

Connie huffed. “Sonia just thinks everything is fine because she’s second cousins with Atera and she doesn’t think her dad would let something like that happen.” 

“Or they’re just not doing anything wrong,” Sonia countered. 

“How else would they look like they do and get to skip school so much?” 

“But have you ever actually seen them do anything?” Sonia asked.

“No.”

“Then why would you just assume that?” 

“Because!”

Sonia folded her arms against her chest and leaned back in the chair. “You’re just angry because Embry dumped you.”

It wasn’t said with any malice and that's probably why Connie just huffed in annoyance. She didn’t say anything more and Eve assumed that she had accepted defeat but she felt bad for the girl. But whatever had happened seemed to be a product of whatever was going on with the twins now. And everything seemed to stem from when they had gotten sick. 

“Why did you want to know?” Connie asked suddenly. 

“It’s annoying me that I can’t figure out what’s up with the twins,” Eve said. 

“Well if you figure it out, let me know.” 

She left pretty soon after so that she could pray Dhuhr in her small appointed room, but it was hard to focus on it. Even as she began to speak the surah’s, her mind kept going back to all the weirdness that was happening. 

*******

The first thing Eve did when she got home - after throwing her backpack on the ground beside her desk - was get out her very old and very unreliable laptop and wait for it to load up. 

When the thing finally managed to boot up and get onto the internet she began searching diseases or illnesses that made you gain weight and/or height and/or muscle. 

There were, unsurprisingly, very few diseases that would make someone gain height and/or muscle mass though there were loads of results coming up for gaining weight. That might have been helpful if _any_ of the guys seemed to have more than an inch of body fat - and she had gotten a good look at their bodies much to her (not really) chagrin as they’d been working on the house.

Interestingly enough there was a genetic condition that made people gain up to twice their usual amount of muscle mass and gave them increased strength which would go some way towards explaining why they were able to move things that were too heavy to move. 

But the Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy was an incredibly rare disease - and it was a genetic one. 

It was possible that all the guys that had been affected were related enough that they all got it - and she wouldn’t have been surprised seeing as people were probably susceptible to cheating everywhere - but the chances of so many people having the condition were so slim it wasn’t worth thinking about. She wasn’t Greg House. 

The same sort of thing could be said about Rapid Muscle Growth Disorder. 

And neither of the disorders presented - oh look she was even absorbing the lingo - with the symptoms that Connie or Sonia had described, so really she was at a loss and shouldn’t have been using Google as a research tool. 

But there wasn’t anything else she knew to do and she was getting really annoyed at the whole situation. Especially when she started to actually research steroids and some of the things she had seen linked up with what the research was telling her. 

Apparent bursts of anger - though she hadn’t seen any of those yet - potential check. 

Height gain - check. 

Muscle gain - check. 

But surely they couldn’t sustain that, could they? And besides, there were long term health effects to steroids that would make it just plain stupid to take. It wasn’t like they were competing in the Olympics! The only advantage steroids would potentially give them would be to be able to move heavy furniture easily. And...if she had friends that actually took steroids because of that - or potentially to look good, though it didn’t matter if they looked good if they weren’t willing to get near any girls - then Eve needed to reassess her friendship group. 

Maybe she should just bite the proverbial bullet and ask the twins? That was a good plan. 

Before she could lose her nerve or overthink the situation, Eve took out her phone and messaged both Collin and Brady with the same message. One of them would answer. 

_Eve: Did you take steroids at any point in your life?_

Then she waited for a response. When a few minutes passed, Eve found herself questioning her sanity and her ability to be a detective. It was probably not a good idea to blurt something like that out - even if that was how their relationship seemed to work.

“Ugh!” Eve cried out and let her head thunk onto the desk next to the laptop. She heard the whirring of the fan as it tried to cool down the ancient piece of shit, and potentially other things moving around in there if the soft raking sound was any indication. Maybe dad would get her a semi-newer one for her birthday if she asked nicely. 

“Evie? You ok?” she heard from outside. 

Her dad knocked on the door and Eve let out a muffled ‘come in.’ She turned her head and looked at him. “Hi.”

“Hi. You ok?” he asked. 

“Just researching a difficult thing,” she said. Because she was not going to tell her dad that her friends were potentially using steroids. That would end the friendship quicker than she could say ‘no’. 

“Is it anything I can help you with?” he asked. 

Eve shook her head, hitting the laptop with her forehead and frowning when the raking sound started up again. “Hey dad, do you think we could potentially get a better laptop? This one is rattling.” 

She watched her dad consider the request. Eventually he sighed. “I’ll see what we can do. In the meantime ask your sister if you can borrow hers.” 

“But she needs it,” Eve said. 

“But if you’re studying then she should let you use it. Besides, you’re at school until 3. She can use it then if she needs it.” 

Eve didn’t say anything but she got the sense that Naima was not going to let her use her laptop so frequently. Besides, she didn’t really want to use Naima’s. But now...well now there would be a potential argument over this. 

She sighed. She should have just gotten a part-time job and saved up for her own. That would have been easier.

“Speaking of your sister…” 

“I haven’t seen anything odd lately. She’s mostly just been home or out at the beach from what I can tell.” 

“Ok. Keep an eye out.”

He said that everytime he asked her to spy on Naima and Eve hated it. The sentences left her stomach coiling in distaste, apart from the need to do it, and part from the lies she was telling. She hated lying. And quite honestly, her dad was not high up on her list at the moment either. 

Her dad closed the door just in time for her phone to buzz. _Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

She picked it up after the third buzz and saw messages from the twins. She opened her inbox. 

_Colin: WFT? No._

_Brady: The rumour mill has reached u then._

_Brady: U shouldn’t listen 2 them_

_Colin: Jeez Eve. As if we’d do drugs._

Eve sighed. 

_Eve: Sorry. I just had to check_

She sent them both the same message but it didn’t make her feel any better. She hadn’t believed Connie when she’d said the guys were up to no good but nothing was making sense. And she still didn’t know what she was supposed to do about all of it because there was no way she was letting it go. 

She couldn’t talk to the Elders - she didn’t even really know who they were or what they did on the Rez. It was unlikely they would tell her anything useful if they even talked to an outsider at all. 

She also couldn't very well talk to Sam about it because if he was involved somehow - and Eve shuddered to think about that because there was...something going on between him and her sister - then why would he tell the truth? 

Still, a big part of her believed the twins when they said they weren’t a part of anything gang or drug-related. As much as she hated lying, she was very good at listening to her gut and her gut said they weren’t a part of that sort of thing. 

Maybe she would have to get a bit more hands-on with her detective work. 

“Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible new words:  
> \- Dhuhr: the second obligatory prayer of the day.


	17. that would die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War is brewing and Sam doesn't know if the Pack are prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all. So sorry that I didn't update yesterday as per the normal schedule. I was actually bonding with my housemates and just...forgot. But here it is and I hope you enjoy! There's finally some notable Eclipse plot, lol. There's a section in the middle that feels a little bit off for me but it had to be in there. I can't really say why (sometimes scenes just write themselves, you know?) but it's...I dunno.

* * *

**SEVENTEEN**

**that would die**

* * *

“There’s a fucking _army_ brewing in Seattle, Sam!” Jacob said. “Why would we not help?” 

Sam felt the ever-increasing need to raise his head to the sky and pray to the gods - or really anyone that would listen - and ask them why they had made him the Alpha. 

Jacob, with his inane obsession over the Swan girl, had gone to a party the Cullens were throwing with Quil and Embry. Apparently, it was for Bella Swan’s graduation, but that wasn’t what Sam was interested in. 

He was more interested in the fact that what Jacob had done had been one of the stupidest things Sam could think of doing; Embry was still new, and if the Leeches' scent had triggered him at that party it would have been really bad. 

Sam thanked whoever was out there that Embry’s easy-going nature seemed to have transitioned over into being a Wolf. The boy had dealt with shifting back better than any other wolf Sam had seen. 

But Jacob, who had just been told that the Cullens were going to fight an army of Leeches, wouldn’t _stop_ whining. 

And it wasn't that Sam didn’t want to help. It was their job to protect the people of Forks and La Push - their responsibility. They had been _built_ for it. And there were now Imprints to consider as well. And Naima. 

But Sam had the faintest suspicion it was because of Bella Swan that Jacob was so invested in this. And fuck it all if he wasn’t the tiniest bit tempted to challenge Jacob on that. A part of him that was too large to want to admit to was telling him to leave the Cullens to it. 

“The psychic one said that one of them has already come into Forks,” Embry said worriedly. 

But there was that. The motherfuckers had crossed into Forks’ territory, and he could not allow people to be sacrificed just so that he could call Jacob out on his bullshit. 

For the love of god. Why was the Swan girl unable to stay out of danger? How had she managed to attract the attention of three different types of vampires? Who the fuck had she pissed off that there was a whole _army_ coming for her? 

She wasn’t worth it.

“What are the Cullen’s suggesting?” Sam growled out. From his peripheral vision, he saw Jared and Paul give each other a look and Sam knew they knew what he was thinking. _Fucking Bella Swan!_

“The creepy one said they were planning a meeting to go over strategy. Said it would be 10 miles past Hoh Forest ranger station,” Jacob said. 

Sam’s eye twitched and there was an uneasy shift with the rest of the Pack. That was too close to La Push for comfort. “When?” Sam asked. 

“3 am. Tonight.” 

That was not far away. Sam looked at his Pack, roaming over all of them. His eyes fell on the twins. “Colin and Brady, you’re going to patrol.”

“What?” Their cry of outrage was instant and loud. It rang out through the woods and added to the headache Sam was feeling. 

“No way!” Colin said. 

“We should be there!” Brady added. 

Sam looked between the two of them and he was struck by how young they were and - _fuck!_ They were all too young and if the Cullens were right they were all about to go up against a threat that was bigger than they had ever faced before. Some of them had never even encountered a Leech before. 

“You’re patrolling!” he said firmly. 

Paul stepped forward then. “Do you think that’s a good idea Sam?” he asked. 

“It’s not a game,” Sam said. 

“Exactly. If this thing is happening then wouldn’t it be better that we show up together - united?” 

Sam looked at Paul. _They’re too young._ He knew Paul could read it in his eyes and his Second sighed and Sam could see Paul’s anger in his. They were too young, but even at sixteen, they needed to be there. 

Paul was right. But that didn’t stop the panic that was making its way through Sam. And they still needed someone to patrol, now more than ever. 

“They’ll need to know what to do,” Paul said. 

Sam sighed. “Fine. You two will come,” he said. 

The twins didn’t do anything to overtly show their enthusiasm; it seemed that they were aware enough to read the room. And Sam was very grateful for that. 

There was a mixture of anticipation and worry that vibrated in the air. Sam knew exactly what they would smell like if he was in his wolf form now; sharp and bitter. Too close to adrenaline. It did not escape his notice that he could smell it faintly now but he ignored that. It wouldn’t do anything but set him even more on edge. 

“Paul and Jacob, you shift and run a patrol an hour before we leave. We’ll meet at the Forest edge and then make our way there.” Sam turned to the twins. “Do not do anything unless you get a sayso from Paul, Jared or myself, understand?” 

The twins nodded. 

Sam looked at Embry. “Let us know if it’s too much,” he said. 

Embry nodded. 

_Fucking hell!_ Sam thought again. Why was this happening? 

Something was said to make the others leave but Paul and Jared stayed. Sam didn’t look at them, not really. 

He heard the gentle thud of Paul’s shoes on the ground and the next thing he knew, the man’s hand was on his shoulder. A moment later, another hand rested on his other shoulder.

It was grounding somehow; the feeling of another’s touch left him steady. Maybe that was what was so important about an Imprint. The supposed unconditional support they would offer in a time of need. 

Sam let out a heavy sigh. Not for the first time was he thankful to have the two men at his side. He wouldn’t wish their life on anyone, but that didn’t stop him being glad that he shared it with Jared and Paul. 

They said nothing, but they didn’t have to. Sam understood. 

*******

He probably shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d ended up outside her house. 

Sue Clearwater, well Elder Sue now, had come by the house with the journals earlier that week but Sam hadn’t been able to look anymore into whatever was happening between him and Naima. Too much had been going on. 

And maybe he was also too scared to look. 

Sam _liked_ being with her. He liked how simple it felt in comparison to the whirlwind of emotions that had come with Emily’s Imprint. And he especially liked that he and Naima were friends. 

He didn’t want it to be some fateful thing. He wanted this one thing in his life to just be a product of normalcy. Surely that wasn’t too much to ask, was it? 

And now, as he stood outside her house he wondered if he wasn’t the biggest idiot out there. _He was pathetic._

Standing far enough away that the family wouldn’t be able to see him in the dark, but close enough that he could make out the sounds from an open window, Sam listened. Music came from a room. A string instrument - maybe a Cello? He wasn’t so sure. But it was a cover of a song he’d heard on the radio often enough. It took a moment for him to place the song. 

He wondered if that was coming from Naima’s room - he doubted it would be coming from Eve’s. She didn’t strike him as the type to listen to string covers of pop songs, although she was a teenager. 

There was a light coming from the living room and Sam watched a couple of shadows move around. From his position he couldn’t see very much - a lot of it was obscured by the almost sheer curtains that he’d hung up himself months ago. 

But he could see the outline of hair. It fell in seemingly looser or bigger curls - curls not like Naima’s. Hers were more tightly coiled and held a lot of volume. Naima seemed to tie hers back more often than not or wear her hair in braids because of the wind and the rain. 

So it wasn’t her hair. 

Sam found himself looking away quickly as the suspicion was confirmed. Eve had walked through the living room into the kitchen and gotten herself something from the fridge. 

He felt unexpectedly ashamed to have seen her hair. Maybe it was because it was something private to her, and her alone. Not for him. And he understood the need to keep things private. 

Privacy was a privilege that should be respected. 

_He should go._ The thought ran through his mind and he found himself agreeing with it. It wasn’t Naima’s job to make him feel better and there was no way that he wanted to involve her in any inkling of this if he could help it. 

He knew already that Eve was far too curious about the twins and nothing good would come from Naima getting suspicious either. He knew she thought something strange was going on with the Pack but she hadn’t said anything. Because she knew when it was her place to pry, she’d said to him once. 

It would be a bad idea to see Naima when he was so off-kilter. She might try and make it her business. 

Sam turned around and made his way back to his house. If he was lucky he could calm his mind down, but Sam was not lucky. 

*******

The smell of Leech was overpowering to all eight of them. Everything was made worse as a feedback loop lodged itself into each of the minds of the wolves. The smell, the thought of the smell and the smell once more - only stronger. 

It was almost too much. 

Control yourselves, Sam warned and the grumble of agreement matched its way through their minds. But all too soon it was taken over by a new thought. Unease. Eight of us, seven of them. Eight of us. Seven of them. Not enough of us - shut the fuck up! Someone - Paul - called out. 

They stood as one at the edge of the clearing the Cullens had chosen and Sam heard a low whistle as one of them muttered. 

“The pack has grown,” the copper-haired one - Edward - said to Bella Swan. 

Anger swirled through Sam and echoed in the rest of them. Embry was barely able to hold back the growl as all the thoughts of being trapped to the Rez lingered in his mind from so many sources. 

“Fascinating,” Edward spoke again. 

Sam did growl this time. There was no need to actively listen in on their thoughts. The others agreed. 

One of them took a slow and deliberate step forward as it to reassure the Pack that he was no threat. They didn’t believe that for a moment. 

“Welcome,” he said in greeting. 

Sam took a moment to separate his thoughts from the Pack’s and then responded in kind, with a pointed thought to the mind reader. _Thank you. We will watch and listen, but no more. Instinct may cause us to attack otherwise._

“That is more than enough,” the one with pale blonde hair - the doctor - answered. “My son - Jasper - has experience with Newborns. He will be the one to show us how to fight which, I’m sure you will be able to apply to your own strategic style.” 

When their eyes turned to Jasper a need to attack bubbled up to the surface. This one was more dangerous than the rest; there were overlapping crescent glossy bite marks scattered over his body, tattooing threat into his very being. 

Sam’s concern was on Embry; as the newest turned he had the most chance of attacking. But the boy stayed still, tempering the rage in his gut. Sam was very proud at that moment and he let Embry know so. 

When the moment passed, there was curiosity over a term the Cullen had said. _Newborn? They are different from you?_

Carlisle nodded. “They are all very new - only months old to this life. Children, in a way. They will have no skill or strategy, only brute strength. Tonight their numbers stand at twenty. Ten for us, ten for you - it shouldn't be difficult. The numbers may go down. The new ones fight amongst themselves."

The dangerous one, Jasper, then took over and began explaining. Paul and Jacob specifically listened and evaluated. They were the strategists of the Pack and it was no secret that Paul always had loved a good fight. 

But they all listened and, as Jasper explained and instructed, Sam was left with more confidence. He still wished the Pale Faces would up and simultaneously combust in a grand fire, but at least they would know how to handle them. 20 wasn’t an unreasonably difficult number to deal with.

Soon the practice began. 

If nothing else, the Pack was gaining useful knowledge about the bloodsuckers. Jasper was an Empath, the pixie could see the future and Edward could read minds. Know thy enemy and all.

It was with begrudging respect that Sam acknowledged the dangerous one knew his shit. There was a calculation in every move and Jasper was able to take down nearly all of the other vampires other than the pixie and the mid reader. Though he was still able to get a few swipes in and they could never touch him. 

Sam found himself watching them diligently, silently awaiting the Pack’s turn. He was still not happy with the turn of events - and he was constantly reminded that this was all happening because the girl that was a Supernatural lure like none other every time Jacob turned his pining eyes on her - but Sam was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. And anything that would help make his job easier was a gift horse.


	18. fighting, kicking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the anniversary of her mum's death, Naima realises something important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday!
> 
> This is an emotional one. Lots of thoughts and feelings swirling around in this chapter but I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Also, I had offered a one shot to a reviewer who wrote my 10th review but they didn't want to use it. They gladly offer it up to someone else, so if anyone has a oneshot idea they would like me to write pertaining to what's happened so far in the fic, please let me know. I find it really fun to do!

* * *

**EIGHTEEN**

**fighting, kicking,**

* * *

The 15th of August came around much faster than Naima could have imagined. Last year they had been putting everything in place to move to La Push and Naima didn’t have as much time to grieve, but it was somewhat uncanny that this year she had woken up sad.

There was this instinctual heaviness to her body that was most familiar once a month when her period came. But she had just finished her period so it could have been that. 

For a moment Naima thought that she was just tired from a night of fitful sleep. She couldn't remember much of her dream and so she lay in her bed just thinking about it. Sometimes inspiration would strike from something that had happened in her dreams and Naima was able to write it down. 

But from the small fragments of it that she could remember, the only thing that had stuck out to her was a laugh that just touched on familiar and it took too long for her to place. It was her mum's laugh. 

It took her a moment to realise why she had felt so heavy until she saw the date and it clicked. 

She was struck by how ordinary the 15th of August truly was.

There was no ceremony, no holiday that she knew about to mark it. It was just a slightly warmer day than was normal for Forks, Washington, and even that wasn’t out of the ordinary. It was Summer. 

The only thing that marked it as any different was that this was the day her mum had died. 

Naima pulled the duvet covers up and around her head as if that motion would block the thoughts out. It didn’t. 

Her thoughts turned to her family back in London and she wondered how they were handling everything. Her mum hadn’t been on speaking terms with Naima’s uncles before she had died but they had shown up at the funeral and had let her and Eve know that they were there if she ever needed them. 

Empty words, she was sure, but at the time it was nice to hear. 

All too suddenly, being under her duvet became too hot. Naima should have thrown them off her but the stifling heat somehow was able to clear her head from the thoughts swirling angrily around her head. She wouldn’t think about what she was, or wasn’t, owed by her family. Not today. 

She was just going to stay in bed. Maybe order some takeout. Maybe she would just cry. Maybe she would go back to sleep. 

Before she could do any of those things there was a knock on her door and a moment later, Eve had opened it and was walking into her room. Eve looked so young in that moment; she had a teddy bear, one that she recognised their mum had given her when she was born. It was old and slightly tatty, but Eve was clinging to the teddy securely as if it would keep the world at bay. 

“Can I lie down next to you?” Eve whispered. 

Naima nodded and Eve walked around to the other side of her small bed and got under the covers. The moment of cold was shocking to Naima’s system but it quickly went away once Eve had slid in next to her. 

Naima turned around to look at her sister and she brushed a tear away that was falling down Eve’s cheek. “Do you want to talk?” Naima whispered. 

Eve shook her head and snuggled the teddy closer to her nose. Naima nodded and instead turned to lie on her back and looked up at the ceiling. The bumps and small cracks gave her something to focus on until a wet sniff came from her side. 

Eve was crying. 

“Tell me a story about mum,” she said. 

She didn’t want to. Naima didn’t want to even speak, but Eve needed someone to help her and if their dad was anything like he had been last year, he wasn’t going to help. 

So Naima wracked her brain for a story. She had never really listened to the rambling tales their mum had told them of her childhood. The stories were long and winding, and often enough there was very little point to them. Their mum had never been that good of a storyteller. But Naima wished she had listened better. 

“Uh…ok. I remember something from when mum was pregnant with you?” Eve nodded and Naima started the foggy memory. “It was towards the end of the pregnancy so I was about...five? Anyway, Mum had been eating really healthily with you but all of a sudden she’d gotten this craving for pancakes. She wanted them every day and so she’d make them. One day I asked her if I could help.” 

“What happened?” Eve asked. 

“Well, she asked me to get a cup of flour from the bag in the cupboard - the one that we used to keep the potatoes and onions in - remember? Anyway, I put the cup in and got the flower and then handed it to her. Mum weighed it and added it and everything. Then when the batter was made, she started to make the pancakes. 

“The pancakes started out thin, but soon they started bubbling and thickening up, almost like it was _roti_!”

“You didn’t,” Eve said with a smile in her voice. 

“Mum asked me what bag I had taken the flower from and I showed her. She groaned and said, _‘I love you Naima but there’s no way I’m gonna eat roti pancakes.’_ ” Naima started laughing. “She had that exasperated look on her face - the one she used to give when Nani started repeating herself again and again - remember?” 

Eve laughed along with Naima because she could imagine it all. It made her miss her Mum even more but unlike last year, this year seemed easier to manage somehow. “I miss her,” she said. “But it doesn’t hurt as much now.” 

Naima hummed. Eve turned on her side and Naima let her hand wander through Eve’s hair. She scratched at her scalp absentmindedly until she heard the change in her sister’s breathing that signified sleep. 

She looked at Eve and let out a sigh. Naima was happy it didn’t hurt Eve as much but she couldn’t agree. If anything, this year seemed to hurt more. 

This year Naima felt isolated from her mum; the move that was supposed to give everyone a fresh start seemed more like it was supposed to cut their family off from the very memory of their mother. And Naima hated it. 

It made the hurt build up. 

But she didn’t do anything. Eve was asleep on her bed and Naima wasn’t going to kick her sister out no matter how much she wished she was alone. And if anything, maybe some of Eve’s acceptance would seep into Naima’s conscience. 

She didn’t hold her breath though. There was something bubbling under the surface. Naima could almost feel it; the edge of her mind recognised that something was there and if the right combination of buttons were pressed then she would say or do something that she would regret. 

So she stayed in bed counting the cracks. When the cracks ended, she started counting the bits of dust that were floating around the room. At some point, the boredom of it all sent her to sleep. 

When she woke up again Eve wasn’t in her bed and the swell of emotion had calmed down a bit. 

Naima sat up in her bed and looked out the window. The day was overcast again. Feather-grey clouds covered the sky. Naima tried not to make that mean anything because pathetic fallacy didn’t happen in real life. Not really. Forks was just always under some grey spell or another. 

Instead she stood up and finally made her way downstairs. The clock on the microwave told her it was late afternoon. Some part of her recognised that she hadn’t eaten all day but she wasn’t hungry. There was still a pit in her throat though, and no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t move. 

In a sort of daze, she went to the kitchen sink and got herself a glass of water. 

She heard a soft thud behind her and when she turned, she saw her dad looking too much like he had the day her mum had passed. 

He was hunched over on himself, looking smaller than he had any right to look and it seemed like he was clutching his stomach. His head was down so she couldn’t see his face. 

“Dad?” she called out softly, her voice scratchy from practically no use all day. 

He looked up. His eyes were red and puffy. There were deep bags under his eyes that looked out of place; the shadows under his eyes making them seem bruised and the surrounding skin paler. The effect was cyclical. 

“Are you ok?” 

He said nothing. Her dad stood there for a few minutes staring at her blankly and then walked towards her. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought he was drunk. 

Slowly, and unsteady on his feet, he moved closer towards her and Naima felt a twinge of fear at the whole situation. But it went away as soon as her dad got close enough to put his arms around her. 

Suddenly she was in a hug and she could hear, and feel, the deep sobs coming from him. And Naima didn’t know what to do. 

There was nothing that she could do either. Her dad was putting so much weight on her that Naima felt herself buckle to the floor. The weight of him above her. It was claustrophobic. 

And she didn’t want to be there anymore. 

She didn’t want to be there for Eve - or for her dad. She wanted to grieve. To be alone. To be in a space that no-one could find her. “Get off,” she said. 

At her voice, her dad seemed to collect himself somewhat because he let go of Naima and she moved away. “I can’t -”

“Naima?” her dad said. He wiped away the tears. “I’m sorry. You just - you reminded me of her for a moment.” 

She wondered what he meant by that. She didn’t really look like her mum - no, most of her features had come from her dad’s side of the family. Naima looked more Jamaican than Eve did. But Naima was reminded of all the times he would call her her mum’s name and every time it had happened was because they had been fighting.

And she wondered then if he was talking about how she had taken her hijab off. That had been the main thing her mum and dad had fought about before she had died. 

Naima looked at him. He was so sad. So alone. So broken. She could see it in his eyes. It was like he had lost some part of himself. 

But she didn’t care. She couldn’t care. 

She needed to feel anger and hurt and upset. And she needed to not be here right now. “I’m going out,” she said. 

“What? Naima we’re going to read Surah Yasin tonight.” 

“I don’t -” _care._ She wanted to say. She didn’t care. Surah Yasin hadn’t done anything to relieve the pain last year and she doubted reading it this year would do anything either. But she couldn’t say that to her dad. Not right now. She didn’t want another fight. “I need some space.” 

“Naima -”

“No!” she shouted. “I need some space.” 

She didn’t stop to see her dad’s reaction. She grabbed the keys on the side table by the door and went straight for the car. 

The cold wind hit her like a force and all too quickly and forcefully for it to be an August breeze, but she couldn’t be back in the house with Eve moving on and her dad stuck in such a broken state. There was no space in there for _her_ to just _be_. 

So she got in the car and started it. She just drove. No idea where to go but driving through the Reservation. Her mind was a mess of thoughts and her eyes burned with angry tears that she didn’t want to shed but knew she would have to. 

Somehow, after driving for however long, she found herself at the Second Beach and Naima knew where she wanted to go. 

She put the car in park and noted that there was only one other car in the lot. Probably because it was freezing. From the corner of her eye, Naima spotted the jumper Sam had lent her when he had saved her from the wrath of Leah. She had been meaning to return it but had kept forgetting. Now she was thankful that she had.

The jumper was large and fell to her thighs and the extra layer of warmth was necessary for where she was going. 

For a second Naima wanted to leave and go to Sam’s house. There was something about being around Sam that just let her be who she was. She would joke or talk about things that she never had before, knowing he couldn’t judge her for it. But she ignored the feeling and took the key out of the ignition. 

She couldn’t rely on Sam to be a comfort blanket for her. She couldn’t let him dampen what she was feeling, because her gut was telling her that if she didn’t sort through the whirlwind of emotions now then she never would. 

Naima got out of the car and made her way towards the cave. The wind was bitterly cold now that there were no trees to provide some cover but she ignored it. The cave would shut out some of the wind soon enough. 

So she braved the slapping wind, and the cold cutting into her eyes and against her cheek. Her nose tingled and she scrunched it up, making her way to the space she’d started to find comfort in. 

Eventually she got there. When she sat down in the sand, the cold of it seeped into her clothes making her wonder if it was wet. But her hand proved that it wasn’t. It couldn’t have been - the tide was out. 

So Naima ignored the discomfort of it and swaddled her knees in the jumper so that her body heat did most of the work and she just sat, listening. 

This time it wasn’t the water rolling nearby that she could hear, but the wind beating up against the walls of the caves. It was a distinctly different sound; far more unpredictable and yet somehow just as soothing to her. It let her mind wander.

And, just like it had the year before, memories swarmed her mind. Some were good, but the most prominent one was of the day her mum had died. And like the year before, the only thing that helped was just writing it out. 

But with no notepad, Naima placed her fingers in the sand to write. Nothing significant happened at first, she wrote about how she’d felt when her mum had died. She wrote about the burdens that she had to take on. Leaving university. Fighting with her dad. Keeping Eve happy. Moving to America. 

She wrote about the good things: making new friends. Having _some_ freedom. Publishing her book. Being able to support her family with some of the money she had made. But the more she wrote and rubbed the traced words away, the more would just come out until she finally felt like she wrote the one sentence that left her finally able to breathe. 

_I can’t do this anymore_. 

The sentence seemed to stand out in her mind and Naima felt tears well up behind her eyes. 

She couldn’t. 

There was so much she felt like blaming her parents for but she hadn’t realised that she couldn’t forgive her mum for leaving her alone to deal with her dad. She hadn’t realised how much her mum had helped her until that help was gone and now she was stuck in this vicious cycle of trying to live her own life and fulfil her dad's expectations. 

And she couldn’t do it anymore. 

It was swallowing her up bit by bit each time she interacted with him. And she didn’t know what to do about it but she just _couldn’t_ do it anymore. _She wouldn’t._

Naima swallowed back the choking fear that had lodged itself in her throat. How had she not realised what had been going on? Why had she let her dad control so much of her life? 

She recalled the words she’d spoken to Sam in the cave, however many weeks or months ago it had been, and she understood where they had come from. Hate…did she hate her dad? She wasn’t sure yet. But Naima did hate the control she’d handed over. 

She didn’t know when or where it had happened but at some point in her life, she had given him the reins and he had done what he thought he should have. And now she was sitting in a cave crying her eyes out and trying to come to grips with it all. 

“Fuck.” 

What was she going to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible new words:  
> \- Surah Yasin: one of the 'chapters' in the Qur'an. This specific one is read - at least in my family - when someone passes. The surah is considered to be especially useful for alleviating fears of the heart and solving problems in life.


	19. screaming,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam researches his feelings, Paul thinks he's stupid, and Naima has excellent timing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday! I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend so far. Mine has been a LOT of fun for which I am very grateful. Only a quick AN today. I just wanted to let you all know that I've started a new Harry Potter fic. It's a Fem!Harry/eventual Tom Riddle. It's very dark - note the tags please - but I'm having a lot of fun writing it and you might enjoy it. It's called Priming Effect.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Leave behind a comment if you did :)

* * *

**NINETEEN**

**screaming,**

* * *

The journals were laying side by side on his large oak desk. Pages were opened haphazardly and there were notes strewn all over the desk. Where there was space, yellow post-it notes were stuck onto pages with neat handwriting scrawled over them. 

It was an organized mess and Sam was in the middle of it all. 

“Well that’s scary,” Paul said. 

Sam grunted from the chair he was sitting in, and Paul took that as the acknowledgement that the site in front of him was just shy of being mad. “Haven’t found you like this since Senior year.”

Sam had a vague recollection of Senior year. It seemed so long ago; he’d been worried about college and his mom and whether or not Leah would want him to propose. Six years ago was long enough, he supposed, but it wasn’t like the resurgence of Supernatural helped matters.

“I was trying to figure out what’s been going on between me and Naima,” Sam said. He sat up from the chair and looked at Paul, then sighed. “Want some pizza?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

Sam got up and made his way over to the kitchen. When he returned, he’d bought the large pizza box with him. Paul eyed the box hungrily and dug in almost as soon as it was open. There was nothing like cold pizza. 

“Where’s Jared?” Sam asked, taking a slice for himself. 

“Kim.” 

It was enough to know. Sam tried not to roll his eyes; Kim had been taking up more and more of Jared’s time recently and while Sam didn’t begrudge his best friend the time off - it was well deserved after all. If Sam could give them all time off he would - he did miss hanging out with Jared. 

“Right,” he replied, taking another bite out of the pizza.” 

“So...what’s with the research?” 

The word research triggered a large sigh from Sam and Paul just raised a thick brow in response. Sam took a bite of the pizza, chewed and swallowed before looking back at the table. “The Elders still have no answers and I’m tired of waiting around for them to try and figure this thing out.” 

“With Naima?” 

“Yeah.” 

Paul hummed. He finished off the pizza and took another slice then walked over to the table and started looking over the notes, careful to keep his grease-stained hands away from the journals. “What have you got so far?” he asked. 

Sam joined Paul and began explaining what he’d been doing. The last few days had just been spent combing through the journals reading them. The journals had originally been written down in Quileute but the Elders had deemed it important for the ones that followed to be able to read the Journals and as such, the English copies were on his desk. 

Some parts had been interesting to read, but for the most part, it was just an outside perspective on Taha Aki’s Pack. There were very few - if any - sections that seemed to come straight from one of the wolves which gave the journals a very observatory feeling. It was not helpful. 

But there were the few sections that seemed to have more depth to them - and it was, of course, the sections about Imprinting. 

Sam supposed he should be grateful for what he had. 

“Guess that’s why the Elders look at these bits like they’re Gospel,” Paul said. 

Sam hummed. “Yeah. But those bits are the ones I’m most wary of.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Sam tried to organise his thoughts. There had been so much reading and absorbing of information over the last few days that everything seemed jumbled but over and over there had been one passage that seemed odd to him. 

“I think there’s an issue with the translation. Something was lost or added,” Sam said. 

“Well yeah, Quileute isn’t exactly a thriving language dude.” 

Sam shook his head. “No, look.” He handed Paul one of the journals and watched his friend’s eyes scan over the words. 

Yá̱·x̓wa - _The two-spirit (connection/imprint) involves great yearning and strong awareness. There is a stage of searching and an unknowing (unconscious) need to be there for them. When the two spirits meet (reference to the first gaze of the Imprint) the warrior will know they are one and the same (unified/destined). The intensity of the bond is surprising (intoxicating) for two-spirit. The two-spirit(s) will feel comfort and ease. They will need to be together. They will understand each other (to the fullest degree). They are one (and the same. Soulmates/Imprints)._

“Huh,” Paul said. “You’re right.” 

“What?” 

“Well the word for two isn’t either of those, is it? It’s [insert word] and I don’t remember what spirit was but I know it wasn’t that.”

That had struck Sam as off too. The translations had at first seemed to be like all the others about imprinting. Quileute had been a language of metaphor, so it seemed to Sam. The meaning of the word was never straightforward enough to understand but always needed some interpretation. 

But what struck him as odd was the addition of the word Yá̱·x̓wa. The first time it had been referenced was on that page and when he had gone back to the page that specifically mentioned the word for imprinting, it had not come up. 

“I’ve looked through the journals a few times and this is the first time that word was mentioned - and then it's referenced only one other time,” Sam said. 

“Where?” 

“It’s talking about the spirit realm - different from Imprints or the context it’s used in here. But I can’t figure out what it’s supposed to mean.” 

Paul scanned the page again and found that Sam’s caution made sense. There had to be some sort of error or mistake in the translations. The Elders were not as fluent in Quileute as they wanted everyone to believe, though Old Quil was the only one who had managed to gain a fairly strong understanding before his own father had passed away. But still.

The language seemed to connote Imprinting. The mention of the first gaze made it so easy to dismiss as just that, but the fact that the passage had been placed _after_ the imprinting one seemed somewhat suspect to Sam. How easy would it be to mistranslate a word that was so close to the original? Even Yá̱·x̓wa was something that could be mistranslated. 

Sam very vaguely remembered the word spirit in Quileute was never something to underthink. It depended very heavily on the context of the other words. Most often, spirit was used to refer to the Spirit Warriors from Taha Aki’s tribe. But spirit was often considered the essence of a human being, or their strength, or their soul. Sometimes they were one and the same. 

So what was two-spirit referring to exactly? 

Sam let his head flop to the table with a thud. This was harder than it should have been. And he knew it wasn’t an Imprint; he had seen what had happened with Kim and Jared and it had been eerily similar to his own experience with Emily. 

But Sam had been able to walk away; he’d looked past the illusion of love easily enough so it couldn’t be the same thing. The Journal seemed to suggest that the other person would feel it too. And wouldn’t be able to ignore it. 

“Alright, fine. But does it matter?” Paul asked, snapping Sam out of his thoughts. 

“What?” 

“Say there’s some other thing out there - different from Imprinting.” Paul did not look happy about that at all. “ Does it matter?” 

Sam looked at Paul. The question didn’t seem loaded, and it also didn’t seem like Paul was just fed up with something and trying to get Sam to move on. That had happened more than once. But Sam couldn’t figure out what Paul had meant by the remark. 

“Shouldn’t it matter if I’ve got some sort of connection to Naima?” he asked instead. 

“I don’t think so. A connection is just a connection. You didn’t fall head over heels in love with Emily, did you? And you didn’t stay with Leah either. So if you want a relationship with Naima then why don’t you just try it out.” 

It seemed like a sensible solution but Sam couldn’t strike the notion out that if he didn’t figure out what it was - if he didn’t put a name to it - then something bad would happen. And he was sick of bad things happening. 

“Jared did.” 

“Jared is a hopeless romantic. And so is Kim. It’s disgusting,” Paul said. “But the Elders said that the imprint would be whatever the Imprintee needs. And I think Kim needed to be loved.” 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked. 

“You’ve seen her. She’s shy and timid and couldn’t stand up for herself if she tried. She doesn't have the best opinion of herself so Jared - who loves her unconditionally because the Gods say so - couldn’t be more perfect.” 

“But by that logic, the only reason I’m not with Emily is because she didn’t want me,” Sam said. "And we know that's not true."

Paul frowned. “I don’t know - maybe. Something seemed off with that one.” 

It had. Sam couldn’t shake the smell of desperation out of his memory. “But could you take that chance? If Emily turned around and demanded that I love her, I’d have to. Naima would be pushed to the wayside.”

“Maybe,” Paul shrugged. “But last I heard, Emily was travelling the world with her boyfriend so I don’t think she’s coming back here.”

“I don’t think I could risk it.” 

“I don’t think you have a choice,” Paul said. 

“What?” 

“Fucking hell, you really like her! I - the whole Pack - can see it every time we see the two of you together.” Paul rolled his eyes but there was a smile in them that Sam could easily distinguish. “And anyway, that’s not how it works. People don’t just pop up and demand you love them. You’ve met Emily five times!”

That was true. It had been different for Jared; Kim had known him for years and even though the Imprint had declared them bound, Jared hadn’t fallen instantly in love with Kim. It had been quick, yes. But not instant. In fact, there had been a conversation very similar to this one, only there had been enough alcohol to get the three of them drunk involved. 

It has been an expensive night. 

“You’re right,” Sam said. 

“I’m always right. But you should probably check in with Naima yourself. She might not even like you!” 

Sam’s eyes widened and Paul burst out laughing. He hadn’t really thought of that. Did Naima feel something for him? 

Paul was still laughing and Sam shot him a glare. “You’re an asshole,” he said. Paul wasn’t able to retort because a second later the phone rang. Sam reached for it and the caller ID showed Naima. 

When Paul caught a glimpse he grinned. “Seems like a sign, wouldn’t you say?” 

“Asshole!” 

*******

She had asked to meet up with him and Sam had willingly gone. Despite the looks Paul had given him. She had sounded different on the phone, and he wasn’t sure if it was a good different or a bad one but either way he had a feeling that she needed him and he wasn’t going to let her down. 

He found her at the cliff edge, sitting on the edge with her arms hanging on the safety railing. She was looking out at the sea, a bag beside her and a thick hoodie over her but Sam was sure it was too cold not to have something else around her. Her hair was whipping around in the wind. 

It was the first time he’d seen her hair down. The curls were tight but well defined and as he got closer to her he could smell the artificial coconut and something else on the breeze. There were strands of blonde - he knew they were there. He’d seen them winding through the braids - but in the light, he could also see bits of red. They were highlights but the contrast stood out against the dark brown. 

_She looked beautiful_ , Sam thought. 

Naima turned and smiled a tired smile at him as he approached her. “Hey. Thanks for coming.” 

“Course,” he found himself saying. “Are you alright?” Sam went to sit next to her, wondering about the answer. She moved closer to him and he ever so slightly moved the tiniest bit closer to her. His residual heat would keep her warm and also he liked it when she touched him. 

“I’m not really sure,” she said. “I have your jumper.” 

Sam hadn’t even remembered leaving the hoodie with her but he found he wanted her to keep it, even as she tried to take it out of the bag beside her. “Keep it,” he said. 

Naima raised a brow that was quickly lost under coils of hair as the wind whipped at her. “Really?” she asked. 

“I’ve got loads,” he said. 

She thanked him and instead of placing it back in the bag, she placed the jumper onto her legs, tying the sleeves around her waist so that it wouldn’t fly off or fall into the water. 

He didn't know why she had asked him to come and a part of him doubted it was because she wanted to sit on a cliff edge a mile away from her house. But he didn’t have to wait that long. 

“That day in the cave - when I told you about my dad - why didn’t you say anything?” she asked. She looked up at him while she waited for his answer and Sam didn’t really know how to respond.

“There wasn’t anything to say,” he said after a moment. 

“Most people would say something about that. Agree, disagree. Have an opinion - something. But you stayed quiet.” 

Sam shrugged. “Would it have made a difference if I’d had an opinion?” he asked. 

“It might have.”

“I’ve come to realise that people feel what they feel. There isn’t much that can stop that.”

“Very philosophical,” she retorted. 

“Why does it matter?” 

Naima looked away towards the sea and took a deep breath in. “I’m not sure. I figured something out the other day and I think I’m trying to come to terms with it.” 

“What was it?” 

One of Naima’s hands rose to her lip and she started biting at the skin. Sam had noticed early on that when she did that she was either bored or anxious. Her lips were already swollen and too red so he doubted it was the first one.

When her lip started bleeding he gently took her hand away. She looked up at him again and licked at the corner that was welling. The section welled up again. She pressed her thumb to the area and pulled away looking at the blood. 

Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue. She took it thankfully and pressed it against her lip until the blood flow had stopped. 

“What’s wrong, Naima?” he asked her gently. 

“I’ve lived my life wanting dad’s approval so much that I -” she swallowed seemingly on relax - “I don’t really know who I am. And I’m scared.” 

Sam leaned into her side a little bit more hoping that the warmth would comfort her. “I hate to say this but that sounds like something every teenager deals with at some point or another.” 

Naima laughed. “I guess. I only stopped being a teenager last year.” 

Sam chucked. “If it makes you feel any better, I went big and hard with my father figure. Disowned him and everything so I could get away from his disappointment.” 

She laughed again and Sam smiled at her. He’d never been able to joke about what had happened with his Grandad. Even now there was a hint of discomfort at the words leaving his mouth but it was easier than he expected. Easier to share. 

“I’d rather not disown him if possible,” she said. “Just...not be afraid to be me around him.” 

“Then I think you should do something that scares you,” Sam said. 

“No thanks,” she said instinctively. She shook her head to accompany the dismissal and a few strands hit Sam’s shoulder. 

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s scary?” she asked in an are-you-stupid tone of voice. 

“Exactly,” Sam said grinning. “Do something that scares you. Learn to identify the feelings - categorise them. When you don’t know how something is going to work out? That can be the scariest thing of all.” 

“What do you think I should do?” she asked. 

He shrugged. “That’s for you to figure out.”

She was quiet again and her eyes roamed over the sea. Her head turned towards one of the cliffs and Sam could almost hear the thoughts playing out over the whipping wind. But would she do it? Could she? 

Niama started fidgeting with the cuffs of her hoodie. In the quiet, it dawned on Sam that almost half of the time they’d spent together they’d sat in quiet. Once upon a time he’d hated silence and the sound of his own thoughts. He’d grown used to it but he still hated it. But now? 

Maybe it was the sound of companionship that made silence bearable. He could hear her breathing, hear the steady beat of her heart underneath whatever jersey she’d decided to wear that day. Sometimes Sam thought he could hear all the thoughts buzzing around in her head and he wondered if she ever stopped thinking - questioning - imagining. And he could see her from the corner of his eyes. 

_That_ , he thought, _made the world of difference to the silence._

“Cliff jumping.” 

If she had said it any quieter, or if he wasn’t paying attention he would have missed it. But he wasn’t. So he didn’t. 

Sam grinned. “Are you sure?” 

“No. But I want to anyway.” 

_Proud_. The word sprung up into his mind like it had been trapped under something - under his skin maybe - and pushed through everything else. Sometimes you just needed to be willing to try. 

“Alright. But we’ll have to wait for Spring. It’s too dangerous otherwise.” 

“Ok,” she breathed out. 


	20. that wouldn't stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve takes a walk, things happen, and she faints.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOH I'm excited for this chapter. It's sort of the start of a new arc so...Happy Sunday :)

* * *

**TWENTY**

**that wouldn't stop**

* * *

“Where are you going?” Naima asked. 

Eve looked at her sister through her legs and upside down as she tried to lace up her right walking boot. The shoelace was a little too short and a little too stiff and didn’t seem to want to cooperate with her as she retired the boot for the second time. 

“Wanted to try and get some pictures,” she said, huffing as the boot came undone again. If this continued, Eve would be forced to knot the stupid things. 

“Sure...but where?” 

“Probably around the Reservation. I might go to First Beach and see what the lighting is like there.” Eve gave up and tied the laces in a knot. Worst case scenario she would need to cut them off and then she could replace the laces for some better ones at that camping store in Forks. 

“Alright. Keep your phone on you.” 

“Will do.” 

Naima nodded and turned towards the stairs, which was strange. “Aren’t you going to force copious amounts of food and water into my bag?” Eve asked. 

“Nope.” 

“Ok…” Eve trailed off. 

“Have fun.” With those parting words, Naima walked upstairs to her room and Eve was left confused. 

Naima was being far more chill than she usually was. Not that Eve was going to complain about it but it was...weird? Naima wasn’t the type to helicopter over her but she  _ would  _ definitely make sure that Eve was being careful and not doing anything stupid. So, what was up? 

Eve decided she wasn’t going to think about it too much. “Bye,” she called out to no-one in particular. Then she left. It was colder than Eve expected outside but warmer than she had prepared for. She’d learnt early on that one could never be too sure when it came to Forks. But if things got too warm or there was an abrupt change of weather, then she had both space in her rucksack to put layers, and extra ones to protect her from the elements. She was pretty well prepared. 

So, with that, she started walking about aimlessly. 

There was something about being alone that was calming. Eve was never somebody that believed heavily in the concepts of Empaths but it never escaped her notice that being around people too often was...socially draining. Sometimes, if she had gone out too often or there had been too many interactions in too-short a time, she felt almost trapped in her own skin. Too many thoughts would rush around her head and she felt the constant need to sleep. 

It had gotten to a bad point in London, especially after the funeral. There had been days where she would need to just stay in bed and sleep or watch inconsequential films. Naima and her dad had probably chalked it up to grief - and it probably was - but when it had taken her a month to fully recover, Eve wasn’t so sure. 

But La Push had been good for that. When interactions became too much, there were so many different places she could go for a walk or just sit. And it helped that the natural beauty of the State made for great pictures. 

When she was by herself it was almost like things would shift inside her, going back to balance. Eve enjoyed those moments. She never felt more like herself then when everything went back into place. 

And it was always cool when she would go for a walk and take pictures on her camera. 

Today wasn't so much about getting back to herself, but things had been harder than normal. She would be starting school again in a couple of weeks, and she just wanted to see the world through a different lens. But the question she found herself asking was where would she go?

Most things she’d already taken pictures of, and she couldn’t be bothered trying to get to Forks without a car so she decided to try a trail. Eve set out towards the designated starting points for one of the trails she’d yet to explore. There was one trail she had been particularly wanting to try. It wasn’t too far - probably about a mile or so from home - but it was always too dark to try and walk a trail when she’d gone past it.

Eventually she got there and smiled to herself. It looked empty which was not unusual for La Push, but today she was especially happy about that. 

Eve made her way into the forest taking care to look for things to photograph. It was only because she was looking so hard at everything that she noticed a second section of the trail leading off somewhere else. 

She stopped in front of it. The trail was a little bit overgrown and potentially not a good one to do alone. She bit at her already short nail, chewing off the end of it. Then, when a section of it was off and rough, she had to bite the rest of it off as well so she didn’t feel the jagged edges. This was why she couldn’t have nice nails. 

Eve was hesitating. There had been reports of missing hikers and giant animals in the woods, so it probably wasn’t the safest place to go into - especially considering she didn’t have the best sense of direction. But, then again, she wasn’t Little Red Riding Hood or anything. She wasn’t going to stray from the path because there were interesting flowers. Well she might if they would be a good picture, but not too far. 

She finished chewing at the nail in her mouth, biting and swallowing and then sighed. It would probably be fine - and worst-case scenario she could call Naima.

Eve walked, twigs crunching under her walking boots. The trail hadn’t been used often - she could tell from the fact that grass was starting to grow on some parts of it. It was probably a good idea for her to keep an eye out for landmarks...just in case. 

But it didn’t matter much. Because only about ten metres ahead of her there was a clearing. She didn’t think much of it until she got a bit closer. 

What stood out first were the long, thin, bare pine trees. On the floor around the trees was a bed of the lost leaves - a soft brown. Standing in a semicircle, the trees were tall and almost grey. It wasn’t unusual; the overcast skies seemed to tint most things a dull grey, but as she got closer Eve saw a patch of vibrant green that made the trees and the fallen leaves all the more muted. 

The clearing was at the top of a small incline and on the ground were deep grooves that made their own little hills and valleys. It almost looked like someone had dragged the trees up the hill enough times to indent the ground.

As Eve began walking up the incline, she noticed that the floor wasn’t crunchy or wet like it had been earlier, but soft. So many leaves had fallen that the ground was almost spongy. Eve smiled at each step with a small spring to it. It was pretty cool.

When she got to the top, she saw the large patch of green. It was odd, like the grass had decided this was the only suitable place to grow.  _ And why not? _ Eve thought. The semi-circle of trees meant there was an opening for the sky, sun, and rain alike to fall onto the grass. And on top of it all was a large fallen tree. 

“Wow,” she whispered. 

Her voice sounded out of place and it took a moment for Eve to realise why. There didn’t seem to be any sound in the clearing. It was just...still. A still quiet. 

She had never heard it before. There were too many people in London to ever have a moment of quiet, and even if people were asleep, the sound of the city was ever-present. Cars, trains, ambulances, the goings-on of the people in the house next to you or the flat below yours. 

But here, she couldn’t even hear the birds singing. 

There was the faint sound of wind rustling through leaves far off, but other than that, the only sound came from the way Eve’s waterproofs rubbed together when she moved. 

In a paradoxical way, the sight was breathtaking and giving. The pure state of nature made her want to breathe in the smell of pine and rain. But the still quiet was tinged with a feeling of supernatural in a way that made her want to hold her breath. 

Eve took a seat on the fallen log and just tried to take in her surroundings. As much as she appreciated natural beauty, she had never understood why people thought the woods were special or mystical. Why so many people got led astray in the fairy tales. But sitting there it was easy to understand. 

It was too easy to imagine a little fae creature walking through the thin trunks and surrounding her.  _ We should not peek at Goblin men _ . 

The forest - the dark parts of it - the unexplored sections. They seemed to be calling to her just a little bit. A mischievous call just underneath her skin. But it also seemed to calm her in a way she had never felt calm before. That still quiet. 

It was almost hard to process so she just sat there, being still. Being quiet and listening to the thoughts in her head. 

She didn’t know how long she sat there for. Honestly, it could have been minutes or hours and Eve wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. She would have continued not being able to tell the difference but somewhere - alarmingly close to her - the sound of something cracking alerted Eve to company. 

From underneath her layers, Eve felt the hairs on her arms stand on edge and what followed was the distinct feeling of being watched. 

She did not like that feeling at all. And it was probably time for her to go now because she had been in that spot for about an hour and a half. That was long enough to appreciate the beauty of nature, wasn’t it? 

Eve stood up and placed her things back in her bag making sure to secure her camera. When she stood up, she swung her backpack back on and turned towards the path that had led her to the clearing only to find someone at its entrance. 

Eve squeaked. 

The person was small with a slightly chubby face. From where Eve was standing, she couldn’t make out whether they were male or female and the short hair didn’t help much. Neither did their frame. But the thing that was drawing all the attention was the red eyes. 

Just blazing red eyes surrounded by a pale face. 

“Um...hi?” she called out. The person kept staring at her and that did nothing for the butterflies creeping into her stomach. The situation was screaming  _ not right!  _ But she didn’t know what to do. That was the only way out of the clearing. 

Eve was about to try and say something again when the person started slowly advancing towards her.

On instinct Eve retreated, but she hadn’t gotten far enough away from the tree trunk to move anywhere. Two steps back she tripped over the trunk and toppled backwards landing on her backpack. Something inside it jammed into her lung making her catch her breath but Eve didn’t care. 

As quickly as she was down, she sat back up to see that the person was too close for comfort. Eve looked her in the eye and the person snarled. 

_ Snarled!  _

Eve screamed and tried to scrabble back but there was suddenly a cold weight on top of her - right next to her neck. 

This person -  _ thing - _ was tormenting her. Like she was prey. It took a moment to realise that they were sniffing her. Deep big breaths, as if savouring the smell of something sweet. 

Eve felt sick. 

Tears rolled down her cheeks -  _ when had that started? –  _ and Eve clenched her eyes shut. She was going to die. She didn’t know how but she knew that. 

The bits and pieces she remembered from Surah Yaseen came into her mind and Eve let out a sob. No-one would know what happened to her. Would her body even be left? 

_ I’m sorry, _ she thought. 

The thing had stopped sniffing her. Eve could only imagine it was because it was getting ready to kill her. She swallowed.  _ Let it be painless. _

Then there was a shift in weight and another snarl. Then a growl. 

What the fuck was happening? 

Eve’s brain registered that the weight wasn’t on her anymore and she belatedly wondered how, from one moment to the next, there had been weight and then no weight and she hadn’t felt the stages in between. 

There was another growl and another snarl. She would need to open her eyes if she wanted to escape, but she hadn’t expected to see the image in front of her  _ at all! _

Giant wolves were attacking the thing. Three giant wolves. Were coordinating attacks. To fend of....that thing. 

And then there was a screeching sound. And another. It sounded a lot like nails on a chalkboard but...more metallic. 

And then the thing stopped. And so did the wolves. 

And then one of the wolves looked at her right in the eye for a few seconds and whined before rearranging itself into something that was very naked, and very man-shaped. Actually, it looked like the guy who had come to their BBQ all those weeks ago - Jacob something. 

Then it didn’t matter anymore because Eve had a second to process her legs feeling very noodle-like, her head pounding with far too much blood and an uncomfortable rushing and then feeling herself give way to the floor. 

*******

When Eve came back to the land of the awake, she was really comfortable. There was a pillow underneath her that was the exact firmness she liked, and a duvet keeping her really warm. Actually, she could just go back to sleep. That would be nice. 

But then she rolled over and felt something in her back twinge in discomfort and she winced. Then she remembered what had happened that had made her fall asleep. Only she hadn’t fallen asleep. 

She sat up with a start and a minute later, someone - one of the twins - was in her room. Followed very shortly by the other twin. 

“Why are you in my room?” she asked immediately. 

“Uh...this isn’t your room, Eve,” Brady said. 

Eve took another look at the room and yeah, it definitely wasn’t her room. So what the hell was she doing there? And why were the twins there as well?

“We brought you here after the…” Brady looked down awkwardly and ran an overly large hand through his mop of hair. 

Eve frowned, trying to figure out what he was talking about, but too soon it made sense. “You were in the clearing!” she said. “You saw what happened.” 

Colin and Brady looked between each other with what could only be called guilt and Eve clenched her teeth in frustration. “You - you were the -” she stopped, trying to get the words out. Because even as she’d seen Jacob change from wolf to human it was almost too much to contemplate. 

“We were the wolves, yeah,” Colin said. 

“Right. Wolves. And Jacob...he’s…?”

“Yeah,” Brady said. 

“Right.” She was silent a moment before nodding slowly. “Well...at least you’re not doing drugs.” 

“That’s all you have to say?” Colin asked, raising a brow. 

Naima shrugged and then her hand flashed to her head. Her hijab was still on. She sighed in relief. 

“We left it on...just in case,” Brady said. 

“Thanks.” 

They were all quiet; the twins taking in the fact that she knew now, and wondering if that was the only reaction Eve was going to have, and Eve was just digesting everything. 

As odd as it was...it wasn’t the hardest thing to believe. If you believed in God and angels,  Shaytan and Jinn , then was it that much further a step to believe in mythical creatures? Especially when you’d seen one change in front of you? 

_ Oh, fuck me. I fainted, _ she thought. That was...she wanted to say it was lame but honestly in the grand scheme of things it was quite a justifiable reaction. Something that had looked human but was most certainly not human had tried to attack her. And things that had looked like wolves but were actually human had saved her. 

“Why are you so ok with all of this?” Colin asked. 

“I read a lot of fantasy?” she tried. When Colin gave her a glare, Eve shrugged. “Maybe I’m just in shock.”

“Fair enough,” Brady cut in before Colin could speak again. 

“What was...what was the thing that attacked me?” she asked after another moment. It seemed like so much of her time was spent in uncomfortable silence. She didn’t know why the boys were being so awkward. It wasn’t like she was going to tell anyone about them. People wouldn’t believe her anyways. 

It struck her that she should also probably let them know that she wasn’t going to let the proverbial cat out of the bag as well. But at the moment, she needed to know why they were looking so awkwardly at her. 

“We should be making Sam explain this,” Brady said. 

Colin muttered something under his breath too low for Eve to hear and sat down on the bed. This inevitably reminded her that she was in someone else's bed and she added that to the things she needed an answer to. Now though, what was more important was the fact that she still didn’t know what the red-eyed thing was. 

“Why would Sam be telling me?”  _ Wait - _ “is he a wolf too? Are all of you wolves?” 

“Uh...not like everyone on the Rez, but everyone in Sam’s gang is.” 

“Well, shit.” That was a little bit worrying. Sam was around Naima so much and if he could turn into a big wolf then...then what? Did it make any difference? They seemed like they could do it on command so…

“Alright,” she continued. “Enough stalling. What was that thing?” 

Brady let out a big sigh and joined Colin on the bed. They were all now quite close and it felt a little bit awkward, but Eve was very much willing to get over it if it meant they were going to answer her questions. 

“It was a vampire.” 

“What?” 

“A vampire,” he repeated. 

“A vampire?” 

“Yeah.” 

Eve looked between the two of them to see if they were pranking her but they looked deadly serious. She choked on spit.

A vampire?!

She had almost been food for a blood-sucking creature. 

_ Fuck!  _

She felt herself get warm and heard a lot of fast, shallow breaths and then there were incredibly hot hands on her shoulders, and they were shaking her. “A vampire?” she squeaked out. “Why was a vampire there? How was it there?” she asked. 

“Look - Eve calm down!” Colin said. She didn’t. “Look at me.” 

She looked at him and he was still really serious. 

“You’re going to have a lot of questions and we’re not the best people to explain it to you, but you need to trust us, ok?” Colin asked. Eve looked at him with wide eyes and he sighed. “We’re all working double-time to protect everyone on the Rez and in Forks. That vamp slipped past us but it’s dead, ok?” 

Dead? They had killed it? 

“Just - just trust us ok?” Colin asked. 

Eve swallowed some air and choked again. Brady hit her on the back fairly hard. Feeling her lungs rattle snapped her out of the probable panic attack that was happening. 

“Thanks for that,” she said. 

“Uh...it’s fine,” Brady said. “Your family is safe - Sam isn’t going to let anything happen to Naima. I know it's a lot to ask but try not to worry, ok?” 

“Right. Not worry.” She laughed a tight laugh that seemed to catch in her throat. But she was going to trust them. They’d not done anything for her to not trust and they’d promised answers. 

And hey, at least she finally knew what the big secret was. She’d miss school if she could turn into a giant vampire-chasing wolf as well. 

“Alright. I’ll wait for Sam to answer all my questions, but he better not take too long,” she said. 

The boys gave their own tight chuckles but there was more humour in their eyes than there had been before. “We’ll get right on him.” 

“Good. Now,” she lifted the covers off her and pushed herself out of the bed. “Whose house am I in?” 

Another tense silence and Eve groaned. 

“Jake’s,” Brady said. 

“And why am I here?” 

“Uh...that’s…” 

“What?” Eve asked. 

Colin sighed. “Fucking hell.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible new words:   
> \- Shaytan: the word Muslims will use for the Devil or evil spirits, depending on the context  
> \- Jinn: in Arabian and Muslim mythology, it is an intelligent spirit of lower rank than the angels, able to appear in human and animal forms and to possess humans. Though, like with most things, there are 'good' and 'bad' Jinn.


	21. until the last breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve gets the answers she's looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEP! 
> 
> That is all I have to say.

* * *

**TWENTY ONE**

**until the last breath**

* * *

Sam had been…pretty forthcoming with all the information. 

Both Colin and Brady had managed to get a hold of Sam pretty soon after she had woken up. The twins had taken her to their house in the hopes that she would be a bit more comfortable getting all the news there. It was sweet, but Eve doubted that there was anything that would make hearing about the Supernatural world more comfortable. 

Having all the information definitely eased her mind though. 

His tribe were descended from spirit warriors, were created to hunt vampires, and protect humans. That was really nice of them - honestly. Eve didn’t think she would be so selfless if she had something like that forced onto her. 

But he had not been so forthcoming with telling Naima about everything. 

“What do you mean I can’t tell her?” Eve asked. Her head was tilted towards Sam in a way that most people interpreted as  _ ‘the hell did you just say?’ _ It may have perpetuated the angry black girl stereotype but they were pretty far beyond stereotypes right now. 

“She’s not involved in this.” 

_ And Eve was?  _ “I’m sorry - don’t you two hang out together an awful lot? Isn’t that enough to mean that she’s more involved than some of the other people on this Reservation?” 

Sam sighed, running his hands through his hair in what Eve could only consider to be exasperation given the context. But she didn’t really care. 

“It’s not the same,” he said. “If you hadn’t been attacked then you wouldn’t know all this either.” 

Eve glared. “Right. But I was attacked - and there are vampires out there - and you can’t ensure everyone is protected 24/7, so isn’t it better that she knows what is going on?” Eve asked. 

“What difference would it make?” 

Eve’s hands flew up in exasperation and she had to hold herself back from smacking the stupidly large man in front of her because the words coming out of his mouth were utterly ridiculous.

This was that stupid Spiderman/Batman/Superhero thing where they thought that keeping their identities from their loved ones was somehow protecting them - as if bad things couldn’t happen to them if they didn’t know what was going on. Well that was not the way the world worked. 

“Why can’t she know?” 

“It’s not like I don’t want to tell her!” he said angrily. “I’ve not enjoyed lying to her, and I  _ know  _ she’s not stupid. She knows something is going on. But there are rules in place. I  _ can’t _ just tell her about everything. Some of the pack’s parents don’t even know.”

Eve reigned in her anger at the sound of desperation in Sam’s voice. She had forgotten that he and Naima were legitimately good friends now; she hadn’t considered how difficult it would have had to be for him to lie all the time. The same probably had to be said for the twins as well. 

And it wasn’t all that fair for her to know if their parents didn’t, but...she didn’t care. 

She sighed. “Ok - fine. You’ve got rules. But I don’t. And it's safer for Naima to know what’s going on around her so  _ she  _ doesn’t walk off in the middle of you guys hunting something!” 

“Naima more often than not smells like us. They’ll stay away.” 

Right. The whole heightened scent thing. 

“But that won’t stop them from trying to attack anyway,” she said. “I’m going to tell her Sam.”

“You can’t,” he said with desperation colouring his voice. 

“It’s too dangerous not to. It’s not fair.” 

“Then what’s to stop you from telling your dad - or your friends at school,” he asked. 

Eve’s eyes widened. That was a legitimate question. The only thing that was really stopping her from telling everyone was the fact that nobody would believe her. Naima might - and only because she would listen and connect some of the dots. But it didn’t necessarily mean that she would believe that it was a supernatural thing. 

And her dad wasn’t going to believe her either. But the other thing that was bothering her somewhat was that she hadn’t even thought about telling her dad. In fact, he had barely crossed her mind. 

Eve pushed those thoughts away. She would deal with them later. 

“I won’t. Dad doesn't go anywhere but town and no-one’s disappeared from school, have they? Naima goes off places - she’s been doing it a lot recently and that’s not safe. So I’m going to tell her.” 

Sam closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them, they were the tiniest bit glossy and she felt bad for putting him in this position. But her family was important to her. 

“Fine. But just - there’s going to be a bonfire in two weeks to welcome Kim into the pack. Wait for that. It’ll make things smoother.” He was pleading with her. 

“Ok. At the bonfire.” 

Sam nodded and then he turned to leave. But something was bugging her so she stopped him. “Why is Kim being welcomed into the Pack? I thought only guys were wolves.” 

Sam cursed under his breath. “She’s important to Jared.”

“Alright, fine. One more thing though - why did the twins say I needed to speak to you about Jacob Black?” 

Another curse. “Look, just wait for the bonfire, ok? Billy can answer  _ those  _ questions.” 

"Billy? Billy Black?" she asked. He'd been one of the Elders they'd needed permission from to come and stay on the land. Eve remembered that Billy Black had been more willing to listen to them than some of the others, but what did he have to do with Jacob Black? Other than the name and obvious relations. 

He didn’t wait for her to respond, he just took off. That was borderline suspicious behaviour and Eve was having none of it. There was no way she was going to wait a week to find out what was going on and if that meant having to track down Jacob Black herself then she was going to. 

*******

Jacob, it turned out was a difficult person to find, even with the help of the twins. Colin and Brady had decided to help her because apparently Jacob was an asshole. But they still refused to tell her why, or what was going on. 

So she took their help and kept quiet. 

Their help came to fruition at 4th period on Wednesday. it was - for all intents and purposes - cutting her self-imposed deadline close, but beggars can't be choosers so she cornered him. 

Ok, it was a bit of an exaggeration. She really just took a seat next to him in study hall. Eve had never seen him there before, but she hadn't seen him very much at school in general so… that made sense. 

But when she saw him, she struck. 

"Mind if I sit here," she said without really giving him a chance to say no. That was quite satisfying, she wasn't going to lie.

It was a tiny bit insulting that he tensed as soon as she was next to him but that was easily ignored, if only because it meant that he was trying to stay away from her for some reason. But that only made her all the more curious. 

She couldn't say very much because Ms Vida was supervising, and she wasn't a fan of collaborative work, so Eve was forced to write on a piece of paper. This was not ideal; the amount of time it took to write out a sentence was quite annoying, but if this was the only way to talk to him, then she’d do it. 

_ Hi. I'm Eve. You came to that welcome dinner my sister organised.  _

That was a good start seeing as she'd never been introduced to him.

He ignored her. Rude.

_ I know we don't know each other but there seems to be something happening that everybody is refusing to tell me about and you're the source of it. _

She felt him tense harder - if that was even possible - as he read through the message. Well, at least he was reading it. Eve considered that to be progress, although she had also basically pushed it on top of his own piece of paper, therefore not giving him much of a choice. 

She was about to write out another sentence, but Ms Vida stood up drawing the room’s attention to her. “I’m leaving for  _ a few minutes only. _ Continue to work in silence, please.” Then she left. 

It was too much for a teacher to expect a bunch of teenagers to stay quiet when she left the room and immediately a steady hum of noise flowed through the room. Perfect. 

Eve turned to look at Jacob, ready to ask him the questions out loud, but he was packing his stuff up. “Where are you going?” she asked. 

He didn’t answer, just put all his stuff in his bag and stood up. Again, rude! 

She watched him for a moment and then started shovelling all her own things into her backpack. He was already out the door by the time she’d got everything in and she had to run in order to catch up to him. He had  _ such _ long legs! 

“Hey, wait,” she called out slightly too loudly in the corridor. Most other classes were happening right now, but luckily for her, doors were kept closed during lesson times. Otherwise, there would be a teacher calling out for her to stop running in the halls - which again, she would not need to do if Jacob Black didn’t have such long legs. 

She caught up with him as he stepped out of the school building and began heading towards the woods.  _ He was going to...shift?  _

“Stop!” she called out again. She pushed as much effort into her legs as possible and the sudden burst of energy pushed her forward, almost within reaching distance, and then she tripped on a stone. 

Eve yelped as she went down, but apparently that had been the right move because Jacob stopped. 

“Are you ok?” she heard from above her. 

She got to her knees and stood up, now very embarrassed. “I’m fine,” she said. 

“Good.” Jacob turned to walk away again. 

“For fuck’s sake. Could you just wait a  _ minute?”  _ she called out. He stopped again but didn’t turn to face her. “I legitimately just want answers. No one is telling me anything and the twins keep saying I have to talk to  _ you _ .”

“They’re wrong.”

“No they’re not! And I’m not so fond of you either, by the way, you’re a giant nob. But you’ve got all the answers and I have all the questions.” 

He glowered at her. Actually glowered. Like his face took on a dark shadow as he looked down at her and Eve glared back. He was not going to scare her into backing down - she’d almost been vampire lunch the other day! 

“I’ve got nothing to say to you,” he said. 

She seethed. There was just this large wave of anger that washed over her and made her want to simultaneously punch something and start crying. Well, she wasn’t going to cry in front of  _ him, _ and she didn’t think that punching anything would help. Otherwise his face would be her first target. 

“Then I’ll ask your dad!” 

_ What? _ Why had those been the first words out of her mouth? His dad? What was she, six? That was some Draco Malfoy level lameness. 

Apparently, Jacob thought along the same lines as her because he laughed. It was mean-spirited and somehow made her feel even more stupid than she already did which was a feat. But it also made her even angrier and she definitely did not want to cry. 

“Go ahead,” he said,  _ still _ laughing. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell him I skipped school too.” Then he just...walked off. 

He was a fucking dickhead!

“Fine!” she yelled after him. 

She’d tried it the nice way, and she was done being patient. Especially if that was how she was going to get treated for it. 

Sam wasn’t going to tell her anything. And she doubted that the twins would either. She’d not asked properly, but she was under the impression that Sam held some sort of sway over their whole...pack. That was creepy as shit, but it ruled out anyone in that little circle. And honestly, she didn’t really know anyone other than the twins, Sam and now Jacob Black. Wanker. 

So she would go to his dad. And she would get answers if it killed her. 

*******

“Tell me, or I’ll tell your secret to Naima and my dad. Possibly Connie and Sonia as well, seeing as they’re pretty curious. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll go to the police and let them know that I think Sam is dealing to the guys. I’m sure that they’ll have something to say about that!”

She was not proud of that. Blackmail wasn’t...the best. But she wouldn’t actually do it - well not her friends or the police thing. She would tell Naima. 

And she just needed answers to all the craziness that was revolving around this town. Vampire and werewolf treaties aside, there was something going on that  _ concerned her _ and Eve wanted to know. 

Billy Black stared at her. For a good minute he looked at her on the porch and she wondered if he saw the frantic panic that was coming up at the edge of her eyes. She didn’t think she could contain this much longer. 

She thought, no she was sure, that he would turn her away. Tell her to wait for the bonfire and to never come back to his house - because blackmail wasn’t polite at all. 

But he didn’t. 

“Come inside,” he said wheeling his chair backwards, allowing her entry into the house. 

“What?” she asked. 

“It’s cold outside and I’d rather be warm, wouldn’t you? Close the door behind you. ” He waited for her to step inside and then he turned the wheelchair around, letting her follow him into his front room. 

Eve wondered if she should take her shoes off at the door, but he hadn’t said anything and she did have odd socks on, and possibly a hole in the heel of one. So she left them on. She sat down on one of the old-looking chairs that were more comfortable than she’d expected and placed her backpack down beside her. 

She stayed quiet, uncomfortably so, until Billy started talking. “This, what I’m about to tell you, is my son’s responsibility. But he’s found himself caught up with someone that is going to do him more harm than good.” 

Eve didn’t know what to make of that, but she stayed quiet. If Billy was going to tell her what she needed to know then all the better. And if it pissed Jacob off as well...well she wasn’t going to be mad at that right now. 

“You know about where the wolves come from, yes?” she nodded. “Good. There is something else that happens to them. We don’t know why, and we don’t know how. There is very little in the Journals about it. But we know it happens.” 

That was...concerning, but ok. “What?” 

“It’s called Imprinting.” 

The word was an odd one. She had a vague idea of what it could mean in any other context, but Eve couldn’t figure out what Imprinting was supposed to be to her, and why it somehow tied her to the dickhead. 

“What is it?” 

Billy sighed. “There's a process that occurs to some Phased wolves whereby they see someone very important to them. The wolf’s priorities change and that person becomes tied to the wolf. They...the wolf becomes whatever the Imprintee needs them to be.”

“What?” Eve found herself asking. Because that seemed like it was just a little bit  _ not good _ for the people involved. “Like...the wolf affected is...controlled by that person?!”

Billy shook his head. “Not controlled, but influenced.”

“Is that any better?” 

He sighed again. “I don’t know. We - the Elders - don’t know what Imprinting is. We have information from the Journals of the last Pack, but things have changed.” 

“I don’t understand. What has this got to - oh no!” she said as she understood what Billy was about to say. “No. I don’t want that. I don’t want to  _ control or influence _ another human being! I’m sixteen! I make really shit choices!”

Billy moved closer to her. “It’s not like that. Jacob wouldn’t do everything you say. He’s more likely to be invested in your well being. Your protection.” 

“But at what expense?” she asked, standing up. She didn’t like this at all. “It sounds like this thing that’s happened takes away his free will. I don’t want that!” 

She didn’t want to be responsible for that at all! What kind of fucked up nonsense was happening in this town?

“Wait,” Billy said. “Calm down.” 

“Calm down? You just said I was somehow tied to someone that I don’t know and who seems to thoroughly dislike me! And for some reason, he wants to protect me? How am I supposed to calm down? You don’t even know why!” Eve didn’t know why she hadn’t just picked up her bag and left. It wasn’t like Billy could chase her down. 

But there was still something she needed to know first. 

“We have theories,” Billy said. “Would you like to hear them?” 

Yes. She would. Theories were better than nothing and she let him know that. 

“One of the wolves thought that Imprinting had something to do with passing the ability to phase -  _ but _ -” he said as Eve started panicking. Because she was not about to pop out a bunch of wolf babies because she was supposedly the best chance at having them - “there have been certain occurrences that make me think otherwise.” 

“What’s happened?”

“That’s not my place to tell. But a few members of the pack have already imprinted and the outcome wasn’t what we were led to believe.”

Eve’s eye twitched. Was he longing this out on purpose? “What do you think it’s for then?” The question was spat out a little more angrily than was probably respectful, but the situation was stressful. Eve was allowed a little bit of slack, wasn’t she? 

“I think that Imprinting is somehow designed to make the wolf stronger in a mental or emotional capacity. I think an Imprint allows the wolf a new avenue to consider ways of being that they wouldn’t have been open to before,” he said. 

So, what? She was supposed to council Jacob? The guy seemed like he had anger problems for sure, but that was not her job to deal with! 

“How is that any better? Either I’m the equivalent of the genetic wolf-making lottery, or I'm the world’s best therapist. No thanks.” 

Billy looked at her steadily. There wasn’t any trace of anything other than a tired man now, and momentarily she felt bad for lashing out. But what was she even supposed to do with all of this information?

“I’m only providing you with the information you wanted. I can’t force you to do anything with it.” Billy let out a heavy bone-weary sigh and then sat back in his wheelchair. “But please, just…” 

He didn’t finish the sentence and Eve didn’t know what he was about to say. But it seemed like the conversation was over, and now that she’d gotten what she wanted she needed to get home. 

She picked up her bag and left the house, making sure to close the door properly behind her. 

It was raining heavily but she didn’t care. Thunder sounded from somewhere to her left and Eve’s breath hitched. The next time the thunder sounded, salt tears mixed with rainwater on the floor. 


	22. had been wrung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The house is finally done, and Naima sees Sam shirtless...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all. It's a day late...I needed a day off yesterday. Been really busy and I had lots to do yesterday so I just didn't manage to. But here it is :)

* * *

**TWENTY-TWO**

**had been wrung**

* * *

Naima drove excitedly over to Sam’s house. Well, she drove carefully, but she couldn’t shake the excitement from her fingertips as she pulled up outside of his house. His truck was there, that was good. It meant he was home and not off somewhere or at work.

She had sort of forgotten to call him and ask if he was free. Oh well.

She got out of the car and rushed to the porch, knocking on the door frantically. She let out a continuous stream of knocks, not letting up until the door opened.

Naima rushed in and started bouncing on the balls of her Converse. “It’s done. It’s done. _It’s done_ ,” she squealed.

“Huh?” Sam asked groggily.

It was only then that she took a moment to really look at Sam. He was half asleep, hair messed up in the way that only sleep could do. A small frown was in his face as he yawned and ran a hand through his hair only making it more rumpled.

Then she looked down and realised that he wasn’t in a shirt.

His body was…incredibly well defined. His shoulders sloped with thick muscle, pulling and rippling underneath healthily olive brown skin as he pulled his hand down from his hair. It continued down to a set of well matching arms and then further down to a wickedly toned torso that was proportioned just so, to make him look beautifully attractive.

It wasn’t like she didn’t know that Sam was attractive. On the contrary, it was the first thing she’d noticed when she’d seen him outside her house all those months ago getting Eve home. And the shirts he wore weren’t baggy. They hung snugly on him, sometimes accentuating the defined muscle she _knew_ was under it.

She’d even felt them flex languidly around her in the few hugs she’d given him.

But she had never _seen_ it. Never seen _him_ without a shirt. And it was taking a moment for her to remember that _this was Sam_ and it was really rude to be ogling her best friend like he was a piece of meat. And she could control herself.

And she should really lower her gaze.

That last thought sounded a little bit too much like the teachers she’d had at her Islamic school, but it worked to snap her eyes away from his god damned six pack – _when did he even have the time to work out like that? Forks didn’t have a gym_ – and back up to his eyes.

Luckily, he was rubbing sleep out of them which was adorable, and she got a sudden whiplash of emotion from panic to the giddiness at the utter cuteness occurring before her. That was not something to think about right that second.

“It, uh, it came,” she said.

“What came?”

“The mirror for my room!” She’d seen the oval mirror with a distressed wood pattern in a sort of off grey online and immediately had to have it. It was the perfect finishing touch to the room and went amazingly well with the dark green accent wall she’d ended up doing. But the mirror had been out of stock for months.

When it had eventually come back in stock, the retailer had sent her the wrong style and because they were in the middle of _nowhere_ , the return had taken such a long time only for the shipment of the actual mirror to be delayed due to mysterious damage to the lorries in their home store in Seattle – their shipping address.

“Really?” he asked smiling. “You’ve been waiting for that for ages.”

“I know! And that means that the house is done!” She laughed and pumped her hands in the air.

All the sleep was gone from his eyes and he beamed. “That’s amazing Naima. Congratulations.”

“Thank you! Come on. I want to celebrate – unless you have something to do this afternoon?” she asked.

Sam shook his head. “Not tonight, no. What did you want to do?”

“I want to take you to this place I found in Port Angeles. It’s Halal and dad said the food was pretty good.”

Sam raised a brow. “You want to take me to dinner?”

Naima rolled her eyes at the stupidity that was coming out of his mouth. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“You remember how much I can eat, right?” he asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.”

“If you’re sure,” he said.

Naima let out a big dramatic sigh. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I’ll just go ask my other best friend that’s helped me out so much with the house. I’m sure Paul would love free food,” she deadpanned.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Fine. But you’re gonna have to give me about twenty minutes. You woke me up and I’ve got to shower.”

“Fine! But hurry up,” she whined. He laughed, turning around and making his way to the bathroom.

Naima was left in the hallway and considering he was going to be at least ten minutes, she made her way to the front room and went straight for the bookshelf.

She loved looking at people’s bookshelves; there was something about them that let her imagine she had more of an insight into their lives. It wasn’t always true, and some bookshelves were just for show, but she would also always find one book that caught her eye for some reason or another. She would pick it up and, if it was interesting enough, add it to her mental ‘To Read’ list.

She’d found a book on Sam’s bookshelf a little while ago and every time she came around, she’d read a chapter or two of it. He’d offered to let her borrow it, but she liked being able to cuddle up on his sofa while he napped or worked or was just around. It was nice.

She was reaching for the book when she saw on his desk, an old diary-like book open with hand written text. She assumed it was Sam’s and was going to ignore it, except there were post it notes over everything and parts of it weren’t written in English.

She hummed. Naima found herself trying to get another look at it before realising that it wasn’t hers and it looked old. It was possibly something important and she shouldn’t be looking through Sam’s stuff.

Except there was something in there about shape-shifting and that was not typical.

“Naima?” Sam called out.

Naima turned and smiled, trying to ignore the shirt that clung to his still slightly damp body making the outline all the more prominent again. “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to the book.

Sam frowned and rushed over to the book. “Nothing. Just some old Tribal legends. I was looking through them.”

“That’s pretty cool. Do you know your legends well?”

He snorted. “Pretty well. Come on. Do you want to drive?”

“Sure,” she said happily. “I’ve gotten a lot better at driving on the wrong side of the road.”

“The _right_ side.”

“If you say so.” She was happy, excited to try out new food, and looking forward to spending time with Sam. But that didn’t mean that she would ignore how tetchy he had gotten about the diary or how quickly he had tried to distract her from it.

It was probably nothing, but there were a lot of things that Naima had noticed were ‘probably nothing’ and there was something to be said about there being too many coincidences. She was sure it was a saying. 

***

The place was surprisingly busy for a Thursday afternoon. It was almost odd seeing someone else in a hijab other than Eve, and Naima felt like a fish out of water for a moment. Realistically, no one was looking at her - or if they were it was a quick glance before going back to their meal or their conversation - but even still, it felt like all eyes were on her. 

She hadn’t felt that way in a while. Actually, she hadn’t felt that way since she had first stopped wearing her hijab. She remembered leaving her house the first few times and getting on the bus, imagining that everyone _knew_ she was out without her scarf on. And that they were judging her for it as well. 

It was stupid, and most of it had been her own brain making stupid things up. But it had taken a good month or two before she actually felt normal leaving the house again. 

As quickly as those memories came over her was as quickly as she pushed it to the side and smiled at the waitress that was now greeting them. Naima stepped forward slightly. “Table for two, please?” 

“You’re from England?” she asked. Naima nodded. “I’ve always wanted to go. Is it as cold as everyone says?” the waitress asked as she led the two of them to the table. 

“Uh, it’s no colder than here. Rains about the same as well.” 

The waitress shrugged. “Anywhere is better than here. Here’s your menus and I’ll be back in a moment to take your drink order.” 

The waitress left and Naima turned to Sam. She offered him the side that had more leg room because it couldn't be comfortable sitting squashed like he would have. He thanked her and sat down, opening the menu. 

“What is this place?” 

“Mauritian, I think. Dad just said the food was really good.” 

“Have you ever had Mauritian food?” he asked. 

Naima looked at the menu noticing that a lot of it looked almost like food in an Indian restaurant. Some of the names were familiar but most of them weren't. Still, there were descriptions underneath the dish names and pictures on the side so ordering wasn’t going to be rocket science. “Maybe once at a fair. But otherwise, no.” 

“Well, I guess we’ll be flying blind.” 

"Not really," she said. "This stuff looks pretty similar to Indian food so I've got some idea." 

"You can order then," he said. 

She rolled her eyes. Naima had spent enough time around Sam that she knew what kind of food he enjoyed. She’d spent enough time around him to know that he would eat whatever was in front of him whether it tasted good or not.

The waitress came back, they ordered the drinks and Naima asked for some starters. "Pakora, veggie samosas...onion bhajis and some poppadoms - if you have them." 

They didn't have the poppadoms which was sad; she would have liked to see Sam try and eat the crumbly food, and wondered what he would have thought about the chutney. 

"I have had Indian food before," he said with a smirk? 

"Sure, but have you had _poppadoms_?" She gave him a smug look when the answer was no.

When the starters came, she took a little bit from each of the plates and gave the rest to Sam knowing that he would gobble them up quicker than one would think was possible. She didn't want to eat too much though, she wanted to enjoy the main dish. They'd sounded delicious. 

Sam had tried to order a beer and was shocked to find out that they didn't serve alcohol. Naima frowned a little, realising that this was why her dad was so happy about the restaurant. The waitress was really nice and thoughtful as she explained that the restaurant owners wanted to keep the place free from alcohol but he had questions when she left. 

"Is that a rule? That you can't eat where there's alcohol?" he asked. 

"Not really. It's...umm…there's a branch of Islam that some Muslims follow that focuses on the energetic transmission of everything. The idea is to reach a level as close to God as you can, and to do that you stay away from harmful things. Some Muslims will go as far as to not eat or frequent places that serve alcohol or things like that because it can energetically take you away from God. At least that's the principle behind something like that. It might just be that the owners didn't want to serve alcohol because it's Haram." 

"That's when you're not allowed to do something, right?" he asked. 

"Yeah," she said somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected him to know that. 

Sam hummed. "I've been doing a bit of research around Islam. We weren't taught about it at school and I thought that was weird." 

She didn't know what to say to that. He'd gone out of his way to learn something about her religion. She tried not to read anything into it, he was a curious person by nature, but it left her feeling a little bit more validated than she had before. 

She didn't want to admit it, especially not to Sam, but Naima had a piercing thought that they wouldn't have become such close friends if she was more... practicing. 

It sounded stupid even to her mind, and she had no evidence for it to be the case, but it was there all the same. But what he'd just said eased some of that worry a little bit. 

"You don't drink, do you?" he asked. 

Naima bit her lip. "I have done. I don't do it often but... sometimes when I've been out with friends…" 

Sam looked at her. She tried to look away, but he was doing that thing where he somehow held her gaze fixed in his. 

"Who am I to judge?" he asked. And then went back to his starters. 

Naima let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and took a bite of her samosa. Somehow that was exactly what she'd wanted to hear. 

Soon they'd finished and the main dishes came. There was too much on the table but it was going to get finished, that was for sure. 

She asked him about work and he sighed. They’d just finished a big project, but the owner of the house had tried to stiff them on more than one thing. “They think that just because we’re from La Push, we’ll take their shit,” Sam said. 

Naima understood. “Did they end up paying for everything in the end?” 

“Yeah, but it took a hell of a lot of conversation.” 

Naima couldn’t imagine having to fight someone to get the money she was owed. But then, it wasn’t like she hadn’t dealt with her fair share of racism or Islamophobia along the way. “I’m sorry. But hey, we’re here. And now we can both celebrate finishing off a big project.” 

Sam laughed. “Your enthusiasm is impressive.”

“I doubt it’ll last long.” 

"Why?" he asked. 

"No reason," she said and scooped some of the food into her mouth. There was so much flavour that her mouth was salivating in between bites. 

Sam raised a brow and stared at her. She looked at him and his face deadpanned. "I'm calling bullshit. Something's up." 

She made a face and shrugged. “Something’s going on with Eve. I don’t know what, but she’s been quiet lately.” 

Actually, Eve had just been...off. Resigned and in her room and seemed to be actively avoiding Naima. And Naima would have just let her be; things happened when you were a teenager that you didn’t want to talk about. But when Naima had offered her ear to listen, just in case, Eve had gone very pale and then brushed her off. 

That was _not_ the usual response, even for teenage melodrama. And Naima was worried. 

Sam cleared his throat and Naima was brought back to the conversation. “I’m sure she’ll tell you about it soon,” he said. 

She appreciated the gesture, but she wasn’t sure. Something about this was settling oddly in her stomach leaving her more anxious. It didn’t help that although he’d said the right words, something about the way he’d said them seemed nervous. 

What was she supposed to make of that? 

“I - um - I wanted to ask you something, actually,” Sam said. 

“Oh yeah?” 

“There’s this thing we do in the Rez. When something important happens in the Tribe we hold a bonfire.”

“Like...fireworks night?” she asked. Something important? Naima wondered what something important would be to a Native American tribe. Was it like the birth of a child, or someone dying? She wasn’t sure at all, but she knew she’d like to see it. 

“What?” Sam asked. 

Naima was confused before remembering it wasn’t an American tradition. Honestly, it was a weird thing to do anyways. “Just a thing we do back in London.” 

“Well...maybe. But there’s one happening this weekend and I wondered if you and Eve would want to come along?”

Naima tried to remember if she had anything important on the weekend, but she was coming up blank. “I would. Have to check with Eve but sure. Are we allowed though?” 

Sam nodded. “Yeah. I wouldn’t invite you if you weren’t.” 

Naima smiled. “Then I’d love to. It’s a date! No – well not a date – but like…a thing. I’ll be there.” 

Sam chuckled. “Good. It’s a date.” 

Naima groaned. That was far too awkward for her to deal with. And what did he even mean by agreeing it was a date?! She ignored him as he started laughing at her and tucked into the food. At least it was tasty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The branch of Islam Naima is talking about in this chapter is called Sufi-ism. It's the branch of Islam that my family practices and it's more inclined to look at the spiritual access to Islam.


	23. from its body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has something to tell Naima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOWN! 
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> And I'm sorry it's late...

* * *

**TWENTY-THREE**

****from its body** **

* * *

Sam was ridiculously nervous. It wasn’t butterflies in his stomach but something that felt like a swirling tornado, wreaking havoc on his ability to keep food still in his stomach. It was the first time he’d been able to pass up Sue’s cooking, and if the stares he was getting from the rest of the Elders was anything to go by, he was doing a crappy job of holding everything down. 

The fact that the Pack was staring at him with sympathy was not helping, and it sure as hell didn’t stop Sam from flinching when he heard the sound of Naima’s car pulling up. Actually, he needed to swallow down the bile inching its way up to his oesophagus. 

This was ridiculous. It was stupid. It was horrible. 

The rest of Sam’s interactions with Naima were going to be based off how she took fairy tales and nightmares in the next few hours and he had no guarantee how she would be set off. 

He watched Naima and Eve step through the sticks and stones and make their way towards him. Eve caught his gaze, hands in her pockets, and stared him dead in the face. 

Sam bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from grimacing. No wonder the twins were so quick to get him; Eve’s stare was unnervingly steady as she trapped him in it. But he was broken out of it when he saw Naima’s grinning face and he was right back to feeling nervous again.

“Hey,” she called out.

“Hey,” he said back, not meeting her level of enthusiasm. Eve was still looking at him. “Thanks for coming.”

“Well, thanks for inviting us,” Naima said, smiling. 

He half-smiled back. “Yeah. So, there's some food if you guys are hungry? Sue made it.” 

“Sounds great,” Naima said. 

“I’m not that hungry,” Eve replied. 

Sam looked at her. She was still staring at him, but Eve was looking paler than he’d ever seen her and it wasn’t because of the lights. He could understand what she was feeling. 

“Uh, the twins are up ahead if you wanted to hang out with them,” he offered instead. 

“Is Jacob here?” Eve asked. 

Sam nodded slowly. “He’s - yeah. Probably helping his dad.”

“Thanks.” She said it with about as much enthusiasm as he was feeling but she walked off towards the general vicinity of the Pack. Sam wasn’t sure that Jacob _was_ with Billy but if nothing else, one of the others would be able to track him down. 

“Sorry. She’s still being weird,” Naima said. “But let’s go get something to eat.” Naima took a couple of steps forward and Sam reached for her wrist and closed his hand around it. He noticed the orange of a henna pattern on her hand as he did so. 

“Sorry,” he choked out.

“Sam?” Naima asked. 

He looked down and tried to swallow the anxiety back, but it wasn’t working. He felt her come closer, lessening the gap between the two of them and he knew it wasn’t fair to be doing this to her. If Sam wasn’t going to tell her, Eve would. It was better that she had someone who could answer all of her questions. 

“Sorry,” he repeated. This time the word came out a little stronger. “I just - can you do me a favour?”

“Sure.” It sounded like a question. 

“The stories you’ll hear today...can you just keep an open mind about them?” It was all he could do to not just blurt it out then and there, and now he was reconsidering even using the bonfire as a way to give her the information. Wouldn’t it have just been better to phase in front of her? Just deal with the outcome from there? It was how he’d dealt with it for all of the newly phased wolves. 

But then, she wouldn’t have the proof in her DNA like the others did. They were forced to come to terms with it. Naima didn’t have to. 

She looked confused. He couldn’t blame her at all. 

“What are they going to tell me?” she asked. 

Sam knew she was suspicious. He had seen it too many times but he swallowed everything down and gave her a tight smile. “Just...listen to Billy, ok?”

She gave him one of her own piercing gazes - it must run in the family because even Aaron had tried to stare him down - and then sighed. “Ok.” 

The simple word got rid of some of the fear, but Sam found he couldn’t interact with her like he was used to. It was still there, chaining him to the ground, whenever she talked with someone and the Pack glanced between the two of them. Even Jared gave him sympathetic smiles as he curled his hand around Kim’s waist. 

Eventually, after everyone had gathered their food and were sitting by the bonfire, a lull fell over the group. They were all waiting for Billy so that he could start, but Sam wasn’t sure where he was. 

Eve was back, looking frustrated, and he had a sinking suspicion it was because the Swan girl was also there. Somehow she had sidled herself up to Jacob and the two were talking under their breath. It could have only been Jacob who had invited her, but Sam couldn't figure out _why_. 

It didn’t go ignored that very few people were talking to Swan, but it also didn’t go unnoticed that a lot of them were looking at Sam and Naima as well. 

“Where’s Billy?” Quil asked over the fire. The lull paused as everyone turned to Jacob. 

“He said he’d be back soon,” was Jacob’s stiff reply. 

“Should he have gone by himself?” Embry asked. 

Jacob frowned. It seemed more like a sneer as the shadows of the fire danced around him. “He’s fine.” 

“What are we waiting for Billy to do?” Naima asked. 

“He’s going to tell some of the tribal legends.” Paul chucked the paper plate into the fire. Sparks flew up in the air from the embers of the coal and blew away in the breeze. Then he sat back, picking at his teeth with the remnants of a kebab skewer. The sheer casualness of his pose was familiar enough to Sam that he started feeling more comfortable. Not by much, but enough to stop grinding his teeth. 

“That’s so cool,” Naima said happily. 

Brady grinned back at her and followed Paul in chucking his own plate into the fire. “Eve was saying that you write, Naima?” 

“Uh, yeah,” she said shyly. 

“Do you have any stories to tell while we wait?” he asked. 

“Maybe some ghost stories?” Colin added with a grin. 

“Yeah, I don’t think we really need any _ghost_ stories, thanks Colin,” Jared said. The Pack laughed. 

“Well,” Naima said giggling, “I’m rubbish at ghost stories but maybe a trade? Culture for culture?” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Brady said. 

“Great. There’s one that my Nani told me when I was young.”

And then she started. It was like a different personality took over and Naima seemed so much more comfortable in her skin. Sam didn’t know how to describe the difference in so much as it was more a feeling. The space around her shifted a little as she relaxed and began her story. 

“This story takes place in the late 18th century in Punjab. A beautiful girl - because they always were beautiful. No-one told stories about the mediocre beauties.” 

Sam saw the small smile she gave and wondered if Naima felt that way about herself. It left him with a heavy feeling in his stomach that he wasn’t sure what to do about. It wasn’t his place to try and change her - not if she wasn’t ready to change. 

“A beautiful girl called Suhni was born to a potter. As she grew up, Suhni would help her father decorate the pots. Because she took pride in her work, she would practice every day - perfecting the artistic designs as soon as the pots and mugs came off the wheel. Soon they were good enough to sell.” 

Naima turned her palm up seemingly unconsciously and began tracing a new orange henna pattern with the tip of her nail. It was fresh enough that Sam could still smell the earthy dark smell even over the embers of the bonfire. It was distracting but soothing to some part of his mind. Maybe it was the part that ran barefoot in the woods after a thunderstorm smelling the slightly damp ground all around him. 

Naima shifted and he was drawn back to her. “One day a rich, noble trader called Izzat Baig came to Punjab on important business. As luck would have it, he stumbled upon Suhni at her father’s shop and immediately became smitten. Every day he would pass by the shop to get a glimpse of Suhni and when he built up the courage, he would step in and buy something. A water pitcher. A mug. A pot.” Naima smiled. “He must have had quite the collection.” 

There was a low chuckle as the tribe agreed but they quickly fell quiet again. 

Naima went back to tracing the patterns on her hand and Sam wondered what she was thinking then. “Instead of returning to his home with his caravan, the noble-born Izzat Baig became a servant in Suhni’s father’s house. His job was to take the buffaloes grazing. It was not an easy job for him. The buffaloes were wilful, and strong, and he was mocked often for not being able to lead them to the grass. But Izzat Baig persevered. 

“Of course, what else is a young woman to do when a man pays her so much attention but to lose her heart to him? And so, she did. 

“But their love caused a commotion within their community. It was unacceptable for a daughter of their community to marry an outsider so Suhni’s parents immediately arranged a marriage for their daughter. On the day of her wedding, she felt helpless and heartbroken but she was sent off to her new husband’s home nonetheless.

“In his grief, Izzat Baig renounced his wealth and status and began to live his life as a hermit. But he could not stay away from his heart, so he moved to a hut across the river from Suhni’s new home. At the darkest hour, the two lovers would meet by the river. Suhni would swim across with the help of a hard-baked pitcher and she and Izzat Baig would spend their time wrapped in each other's embrace. 

“Some say he would often catch her fish. But once, when the tide was too high and he could not catch it, Izzat Baig cut a piece of his thigh and roasted it so that she would not go hungry. When Suhni realised, she placed a hand on his leg and fell stronger in love with him.” 

Naima had stopped tracing the patterns on her hand now. Instead, she took one of Sam’s. One hand clasped his palm and the other began tracing a new set of patterns on his forearm. 

With every graze and stroke, shivers traced their way through his veins and up into his head making him look from their joined hands to Naima’s face. She looked like she was in a trance; calm and content with what she was doing. Sam had to wonder if it was because she was lost in the story of if it was because she was comfortable enough with him to do so. He hoped it was the latter. 

Naima continued. 

“Meanwhile, rumours of their late-night meetings spread. One day, Suhni’s sister-in-law gave into her suspicion and followed her to the place where Suhni hid the pitcher. The sister-in-law was enraged; furious that Suhni would bring such shame and dishonour on their family. Instead of telling her brother, the sister-in-law took it upon herself to deal with Suhni. 

“The next day the sister-in-law removed the baked pitcher and replaced it with an unbaked one so that, that night when Suhni tried to cross the river, the clay dissolved in the water and Suhni began to drown.

“From the other side of the river, Izzat Baig saw Suhni drowning and dived into the water to save her. But he could not. Thus, the lovers were reunited in death.”

When she was finished Naima seemed to take a deep breath and looked up. She took her hand from his and the cool air washed over Sam’s skin. It was comfortable to feel the breeze on his palm again, but he immediately missed her hand in his. 

Naima seemed to come out of the daze that she was in. She sat up straighter and smiled at the people around the bonfire. “It’s not the nicest ending, and it wasn’t my favourite growing up but it was my grandma’s.”

“Why is that?” Billy asked. 

Naima, Eve, Bella and Kim yelped, startled by Billy's sudden arrival. They’d been so engrossed in the story that they hadn’t paid attention to him wheeling himself back to the group, but the Pack had heard. 

“She said that there was beauty in the purity of emotion - no matter what it is. And that we shouldn’t judge the emotion or the people who hold it too harshly.” 

“She is a wise woman,” Billy acquiesced. 

“She was.” 

Naima didn’t talk much more after that but she still smiled and engaged when she was spoken to. But it didn’t matter to Sam because he couldn't take his mind off of the story and the way she’d told it. 

He’d noticed that her voice fit this; it was smooth and clear. Strong but...humble as she told her legends. It was different from Billy’s commanding air and he wondered if it was because this story was about a young couple who had fallen in love. There were no airs about it, just the pleasure of being in one another’s company. 

It wasn’t a bolt or a flash like he had seen in Jared’s mind. It was not even sluggish like he had felt with Emily. And it wasn’t like everything slid into place with the sense that this was the natural progression like it had with Leah. 

It felt more like a song that had been playing just low enough not to recognise. He’d heard it before, he’d felt the familiarity of it. But it wasn’t until that moment when someone or something had turned up the volume enough that he could recognise it. 

He had fallen in love with Naima.

Suddenly, as Billy began speaking - began to tell the story of Taha Aki - Sam understood why everything felt so heightened. He’d fallen in love with her. And there was so much more at stake. 

*******

Billy had told more than just the story about Taha Aki. He had also spoken about the Third Wife. That was probably for Eve’s benefit, but Sam couldn’t help but wish the man had decided to save that one for later. Lord knew there was already going to be enough to deal with. 

Not for the first time, Sam wondered why this was _his_ life. 

As per usual, the new members of the Pack were able to ask Billy questions, and the rest milled about doing their own thing. Paul had patrol with Colin, so they left very quickly after. Brady took Eve under his wing; Jacob went off somewhere with Swan and the rest did their own thing. 

Soon it was just Naima and Sam still sitting on the logs. 

“I listened,” she said softly. 

“And what did you hear?” he asked. 

She was quiet for a long, _long_ , time. All the while Sam waited anxiously. The weight of his new realisation and the stress of everything was getting to him and what he really wanted was to run away. To just not deal with a Newborn army, or the Cullens, or new Imprinting rules. Or Naima’s silence.

But he couldn’t. 

_Just breathe!_

“I need you to just be really straight with me now, Sam. I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt. I’ve ignored the crazy strength and the constant temperature. But you can’t just bring me here with implied answers looming over my head and go cold on me.” 

She was asking him to just come out and say it. So why was it stuck in his throat? He must have opened and closed his idiotic mouth three times already, but the words wouldn’t leave. 

“Sam!”

“It’s true!” 

There was a beat - almost audible to Sam - in which his heart was pounding erratically in his chest. And then she spoke again. 

“What’s true?” 

“The stories.” 

“All of them?” she asked, her voice going up and trembling a little. “ _All_ of them?” 

He nodded. 

“I don’t understand,” she began. And he was going to explain but the next few words stopped him dead in confusion. “I don’t understand how you think I’m that _stupid_.” 

“What?” 

“You - I don’t know what you think I was going to get from that but -”

“No, no - it’s real!” he said. “It’s all real.” 

She scoffed and crossed her arms, moving away from him in the process. Somehow, scooching herself away from him on the log was worse than her just standing up and walking away - or at least that’s what it felt like to Sam. 

He panicked. “I can prove it!” 

“Just...stop. Please.” She stood up and brushed the dirt off the back of her pants. He was wrong. Her standing up was worse. “I didn’t even need to know anything-”

“It’s real. I promise.” 

“Oh fuck off, Sam,” she said loudly. 

Sam knew that the others would have heard that, but he couldn’t care less. He found himself grasping at straws and the only thing he could do to fix this was show her. Show her that he was a shape-shifting wolf and _hope_ that she didn’t freak the fuck out about it. 

“Let me prove it! Please.” 

“Go on then. Transform. Right here.” 

He didn’t want to do it right in front of her. It wasn’t a pleasant experience to see someone bursting out of their skin and land on all fours furry, and with a snout. But if he didn’t do it in front of her then she would find a way to brush it off. At least for now. And then...then what? 

Even if he phased there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t just let him go. 

Sam swallowed, feeling a lodge stuck in his throat. 

He’d have to. Eve was right; there was too much going on for her to not be aware of. And even if she stayed away from him, there was a possibility she would be safer knowing about the vampires and what they were capable of than not knowing. 

And maybe he could strike a deal with the Cullens to keep her and her family safe. 

“I’m leaving,” she said. 

He hadn’t realised how long he’d been stuck in his head. Sam reacted on instinct, catching her wrist in his hand once again. The difference between earlier in the Summer evening and now was stark. Naima glared at his hand. 

“Let go,” she ordered. 

“I’m going to prove it.” He couldn’t do it out in the open though. The bonfire area was popular enough that anybody could be around and that would just add more madness to his shit-filled plate. “We just have to move towards the tree-line.”

“Why?” she asked. The dying flames flickered over the suspicion in her eyes and Sam felt a punch to the gut at seeing it there. She’d never looked at him that way before. 

“Someone might see,” he whispered. 

He saw her swallow and then nod almost imperceptibly. The tight curls which had been placed up high into a ponytail - a pineapple, she called it - bounced up and down making the gesture seem bigger than it was. Sam looked away. 

He turned towards the treeline, nodding towards Eve as he went. He didn’t need to turn back to know she was following him; the thud of her sneakers was loud enough against the soft ground. 

They walked in silence all the way and when Sam had deemed them far enough, he turned back to her. It was dark in the forest. Almost too dark for her to see him, but there was enough light from the dying fire that she could see something. And he assumed her eyes would adjust soon enough. 

“I’m going to go behind that tree and take off my clothes,” he said as calmly and firmly as he could in that moment. “When we Phase, our clothes are destroyed. Then I’ll come out as a wolf. I won’t hurt you, Naima. I promise.” 

She didn’t say anything, but he took that as a que to just do it. Finding a tree wide enough to cover him was challenging; the trunks were too wiry and thin to cover everything, but it was dark, and Naima would look away if she felt like she had to. He just needed to prove that he wasn’t fucking her about. 

Sam took a calming breath, and from one moment to the next he fell into his wolf form. He heard Paul and Colin in his mind but they were doing everything they could to give him privacy. Only the echoes of good luck were there. 

Bracing himself, he walked out from behind the tree. Slowly and carefully, he made his way towards her. She had covered her eyes, like he knew she would, so he let out a gentle whine. 

Naima yelped and her eyes flew open. A second later she gasped. It wasn’t a small, timid, girly gasp, but one that was pulling all the air into your body because you couldn’t get enough of it. 

A hand flew to her mouth, clapping over it and trapping in the sound. 

He wanted to ask her if she was ok. Tell her again that he wasn’t going to hurt her. Say anything! But he couldn’t. Words would only come out as growls or whines, and Sam knew that wasn’t going to help the situation. 

“Sam?” she whispered. 

He bent down, laying his nose in his paws at her feet, hoping that it would calm her down a little bit. But he could still see her through his paws, and she was stock still. 

The only sounds were her harsh breathing and the forest. He hated it. 

Slowly, Naima moved her hand down. 

For the briefest moment, Sam felt her slightly cold hand brush against his fur and he had hope. But Naima pulled her hand away and receded in on herself. 

Sam whined and stood up but she was backing away. 

“It’s - you’re -” she was breathing hard again, like she had when she’d confronted Leah. “I need -” But she didn’t finish the sentence. She just ran away. 

Sam was left in the woods alone, Paul and Colin somewhere patrolling feeling his misery as well. Sharing it didn’t make it any easier, but he knew this. They all did. 


	24. The will

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naima has a lot to process and Eve sort of helps her through it.

* * *

**TWENTY-FOUR**

**The will**

* * *

Naima left Sam in the woods. It was all too much to have to think about, listen to, feel, deal with. How could he expect her to just be ok with the fact that he turned into a giant fucking wolf because there were vampires running around? 

And not just him either, but a whole tribe of people.

What was she supposed to _do_ with that? 

Naima stumbled out of the woods and made a b-line all the way to the fire. The flames were going out with no-one to tend to them, and it left very little light to see anything with. But that didn’t matter. 

“Eve?” she called out. She couldn’t see her sister and for a second, she thought that one of them had taken her somewhere. That they were going to do _something_ to her. But the next thing she knew, her sister was walking up to her. 

“We’re going.” 

Naima didn’t look back to see if Eve was going to follow her, but Eve followed anyway. Naima wasn’t going to be there much longer and she sure as hell wasn’t going to think about Sam or how scared he’d looked when she turned around. 

They were getting in the car and going home.

*******

A week passed. She’d not heard from Sam at all and oddly enough, she’d not seen him around town either. That was a good thing because she wasn’t sure how she would react.

She had tried to talk herself out of what she had seen, but Naima had felt the fur under her hand. She had heard the heavy paws on the forest floor. She had seen his sad eyes, eyes that looked so much like Sam’s had whenever he talked about his mum. She couldn’t talk herself out of it.

A part of her felt betrayed. It was stupid - because of course he couldn’t tell her a secret this monumental - but it didn’t seem to stop the hurt. She’d told him secrets too. It was wholly stupid and selfish. But she was upset. 

And she couldn’t stop herself wondering why she had been told in the first place. Why tell such a closely guarded secret to her? To her sister? Even under the guise of a story. There was so much power in stories. 

Why her? Why now? 

Naima felt a chill run down her back and she shivered. This September was chillier than...well not normal. Naima didn’t know what a normal September was in La Push seeing as they’d arrived in November. And surely it had been colder then? 

But something about it was colder than normal. She was wrapped up in thick socks, a jumper, and a blanket but she still felt it. The cold felt like it was in her muscles, in her bones, and no matter how much she rubbed at the limbs or the joints, no matter how many hot water bottles she refilled, some part of her was always cold. 

The only time it went away was when she took a bath in water just a little bit too hot for her to handle. 

She’d sit in the bath and it would be so hot to her that her body would tingle. But slowly, she would adjust. Slowly she would warm up. It never lasted very long though. She’d be cold when she woke up the next day again. 

“Are you sick?” her dad asked as she came down for dinner after her third bath that week. 

“No, I don’t think so.” 

He made some sort of non-committal sound and portioned off some pasta for her, passing the cheese and grater to her as well. “Why do you keep having baths then?” 

“I’m just cold,” she said. 

“If that’s the case then can you just put on a hat? I don’t want the water bill to increase. We already use more heat in the winter.” 

Naima would have just said yes. But she was pissed off and confused and more than a little angry. “I’ll pay,” she said. There was more bite to her voice than normal and she knew her dad would be making a face. It wasn’t rude enough that he would comment on it but she was pushing it. 

“How are you going to afford it?” he asked. 

“I’ll pay,” she repeated. She didn’t want to let him know that she had savings from her first book deal. He’d not paid attention to her when she had published it, and she’d done so under a pseudonym, so it hadn’t mattered either. But he wasn’t going to take her money. 

She still wasn’t looking at him.

“You’ve changed since you started spending time with that boy. I don’t think it’s good for you.” 

She tensed. Sam was not a boy. 

_But he’s not human either,_ she reminded herself. He was something else. And not only that but the twins that Eve had been spending time with, they had been at the bonfire. So had Paul. 

None of them were human.

She took a glimpse at Eve, but she was sitting there as quietly as she had been for the last week and a half. Had Eve figured something out too? God, she hoped not. The last thing Eve needed was to deal with...that stuff. 

_Fuck_ , Naima didn’t want to deal with it herself. “Yeah, well. I don’t think you need to worry about that. I’m not going to be spending much time with him anymore.” 

She really wanted to stab the pasta with her fork, but that was dramatic. And she didn’t need her dad thinking whatever his brain would jump to. Naima wasn’t someone who was prone to being dramatic and if she started that over a guy? Her dad would lose it. 

“Oh,” her dad said. “Did something happen?” 

Naima finally looked at her dad. She had thought he was going to look happy or smug, but she was surprised to see that he seemed worried. Immediately her defensiveness dropped, and she gave him a smile. “I’m just not happy with the way he dealt with something.”

“What was it?” 

“It’s personal to him. Not my place to share or gossip.” She dropped that in there because she knew it would get him off her back. Gossiping was often frowned down on. 

“Of course. Well, good then. I’m proud of you for keeping to your values. It’s not something that’s easy to do.” 

He smiled proudly at her and Naima swallowed. She hadn’t heard those words in a while and it came with a bittersweetness. She wasn’t sure his pride warranted much but there was still a big part of her that wanted it. 

“Thanks,” she said thinly. Then she ate the pasta. 

The table was silent, and soon they were all done. Her dad offered to wash the dishes and Naima quite happily gave them to him. She just wanted to be back in her room not having to deal with the emotional surplus of the evening. 

But she wasn’t going to get any rest. Eve followed her into her room. “We need to talk,” she said. 

“Not today, Eve,” Naima said as she wrapped herself up in the duvet again. The warmth from the bath was starting to fade a little and she was feeling cold again. 

“Yes today. I know about the Pack.” 

Naima looked at her sister. For some reason the words were not resonating in her mind. Eve knew about _what_? It just wasn’t making sense to her. “The what?” she asked. 

Eve narrowed her eyes. “The Pack. The wolves! I know Sam told you.” 

Naima felt her heart stutter. Eve knew? Eve _knew_? Her little sister knew about the things that went bump in the dark, about the people that turned into wolves? Naima shook her head uncontrollably, as if shaking it would get her thoughts in order because things were _still not making sense._

“Naima?” Eve walked to the bed and climbed on it before snapping her fingers in Naima’s face. “Naima? Snap the fuck _out of it_!” 

“Don’t do that,” Naima hissed, pushing Eve’s fingers away. “What do you _mean_ you know? What do you know?” 

“Quiet,” Eve hushed her. 

Naima hadn’t realised that her voice had gotten so loud until there was a contrast with Eve’s, but somehow she didn't care. Because her sister was telling her that she had known about Sam’s secret before she did, and she was being calm about it!

“What the fuck, Eve?” she said angrily. “How do you know about it?” Eve looked cautious and Naima was suddenly far too suspicious about it. 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea right now,” Eve said stubbornly. 

_So help her God._

“Eve,” Naima hissed through her teeth. “Tell me. Now!” 

She could hear her voice and it had never sounded like that. So angry and on edge.

A part of her was sorry that she was chewing Eve out, but Naima was so tired of the perpetual thoughts and worry swirling around in her head that she just had no space for the bullshit Eve was pulling. 

She _needed_ to know if her sister was in danger, and why she had even been exposed to all the craziness. And a small part of her was also furious that Eve had been told when she was just...left in the dark like an idiot. 

Eve seemed to pick something up from the anger and the hurt because she sighed a long sigh. “Just...don’t -” she sighed again. “Look, this is going to be unpleasant to hear but - but just -” 

“What?” Naima said again. She heard the snappy tone and tried to reign it in slightly, but Eve was just making her feel more on edge. 

“Hooo,” she breathed out. “Ok, remember that day I went for a walk and didn’t come back for, like, a good few hours?” 

“Yes?” 

“That day I was in the woods and...got attacked by a vampire.” She said the last half of the sentence quickly and in one breath. Naima almost didn’t understand it. 

“What?” she asked. 

“But before anything could happen the twins and Jacob - one of the others - stopped it. They killed it and I fainted out of shock, so they took me to their house. I basically demanded answers and Sam told me.” 

Naima narrowed her eyes but said nothing, so Eve took that as a sign to continue. 

“I wanted to tell you - I threatened him about it - but he asked me to wait. He said that he wanted to tell you properly.” 

“Did he ask you to say that?” Naima asked. 

Eve scoffed. “No. And even if he had, I wouldn't lie about this. It’s fucking crazy enough as it is. Vampires and Werewolves.” 

Naima felt pressure on her chest and wondered what it was until she realised that she hadn't been breathing properly since Eve had started telling her everything. And it was just too much. 

She started crying. Large, unending tears seemed to pour out of her eyes and down her face pooling onto her duvet. 

“Oh my God, Naima?” Eve called out. 

Naima felt a hand on her shoulder and then she was engulfed in a hug. Naima clutched onto her sister tightly and just cried. She was relieved that Eve didn’t ask her why she was crying because Naima wouldn’t have been able to tell her. She just felt like she had to cry. 

They were there until the tears ran out. She didn’t know how long it was, but when she pulled away from Eve, the back of her jumper was all wet and Naima felt like there was a trail of snot leaking out of her nose. When she brushed her hand against her nose, her theory was proven correct as a glob of mucus came off onto it. 

“That’s gross,” Eve said. But she pulled a tissue from the box on Naima’s bedside and handed it to her. Then, when she had wiped the snot off her hand, Eve gave her two or three more so she could do the same to her face. 

Naima caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and she almost wanted to cry again. Her face was red and puffy. Baby hairs were flying everywhere, and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked away and tucked her legs under her arms. Eve came and sat next to her, pulling the duvet up over the both of them. 

“It’s a lot, I know,” Eve whispered. 

Naima sniffed. Her nose was so blocked it was difficult to get air through it. 

“But is it so much of a stretch?” Eve asked. “There’s jinn, Angels, Shaytaan. Allah. All the things in between. Is it so odd that there are vampires and werewolves?” 

That wasn’t why she was so upset though. “He lied,” she whispered into her legs. Eve heard her. 

“Yeah. But Naima, as far as secrets go, this is a pretty valid one to lie about.” 

“I know that. But…” _But what?_ Eve was right, and Naima couldn’t even be angry over Eve being told first. She had literally almost been eaten by a vampire - and that was something they were going to have to discuss later as well because it was one thing for werewolves to exist, but vampires? They were dangerous. They would have _had_ to explain what was happening to Eve. 

“If it makes you feel any better, Sam really seemed like he wanted to tell you. When I threatened him he was almost crying.” 

“Really?” she whispered. 

Eve nodded. “Eyes glistening and everything.” 

She didn’t know why, but that _did_ make her feel a little bit better. But there was still so much that was going through her mind and it all felt too much. She needed to sort it out. She needed to get all her answers and soon. 

Naima wiped at her eyes again and then took a calming breath. “Alright. Tell me about everything then,” she said. 

Eve bit her lip. “That’s...I mean isn’t it better for you to ask Sam?” 

Naima shook her head. “I mean about the vampire attack. Will more come or…?” As much as it was crazy needing to think about that, Naima needed to know whether or not there was a way to protect herself if she did come across a vampire. 

A lot of it would depend on the type of vampire they were and whether the folklore about them was accurate, but it would need to be thought about. 

And their dad. 

He hadn’t been invited to the bonfire which suggested that he wouldn’t be allowed to know the secret. Naima had mixed feelings about that, but it wasn’t her place to decide. And if something did happen then they could always tell him. Or they could move. 

She didn’t want to move. She had come to love La Push. But if it was their safety or pretty greenery, then the choice was simple. November was coming up anyway. He hadn’t said anything about moving, but their dad wasn’t the most forthcoming or the most willing to plan things. 

That they had ended up in La Push was testimony to that. He’d picked somewhere at random and moved them halfway across the world on it. 

“Ok,” Eve said slowly. “I can tell you about that. But...I do think you should talk to Sam soon.” 

“Why?” 

Eve shrugged. “I just...think that you don’t need to push him away. He’s been a good friend to you, and I don’t want you to lose that because you’re scared.” 

“I’m not scared.” 

Eve looked at her. “You’re scared of something. But pushing Sam away isn’t a good idea. At the very least staying close to him would keep vampires away. Apparently they hate the smell of the wolves and vice versa.” 

That was....interesting. “Yeah, sure,” she said instead. 

Naima wasn’t scared of Sam. That was stupid. She just needed some space while she processed everything. That was a fair enough request, wasn’t it? 

So she turned to Eve and started asking her everything. Some things Eve wouldn’t answer and some things she seemed to be avoiding. But at the end of it, it was close to midnight and Naima seemed to have more questions than answers. 

When she went to bed, she did so feeling the chill deep in her bones again, and with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She tried to ignore both. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible new words:   
> jinn - supernatural creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian and later Islamic mythology and theology.  
> Shaytaan - the Arabic name for the devil (when singular) or evil spirits (when plural)  
> Allah - the main name for God in Islam
> 
> ==========================  
> Hope you enjoyed the angst :) I'm going to take a posting break next week. I've started a new job and I think I need to just chill for a little while. I'll see you all in a couple of weeks and I hope you have a good week.


End file.
